


No Gods, No Kings... Only Man

by dextrosinistral



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Depression, F/M, Gratuitous use of canon dialogue, Jimmy's side of the story, Lima Syndrome, M/M, Other, Stockholm Syndrome, atheist!Jimmy, canon violence, rude nicknames, self-inflicted damage, symptoms of dissociative identity disorder, symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 15:42:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dextrosinistral/pseuds/dextrosinistral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are a lot of things that Jimmy has expected. None of them ever involved becoming a vessel... and taking one hell of a ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Gods, No Kings... Only Man

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Jimmy Novak big bang](http://jimmybigbang.livejournal.com/).
> 
> I have been honoured to have two people sign up to do art for my fic: [ammo](http://ammo.livejournal.com/216416.html) and [h4ppy_fun_b4ll](http://h4ppy-fun-b4ll.livejournal.com/12801.html). Their works, in my opinion, outshine my writing. I could not have asked for better people to work with for this!
> 
> Many thanks to [wellworld](http://archiveofourown.org/users/wellworld) for betaing this even though it wound up much longer than it was supposed to be, and for letting me pick the mental health professional part of her brain and providing excellent feedback about my accuracy.
> 
> And I owe [tawg](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tawg) for enabling me to write this to begin with and enabling me even through my "I can't do this" flailing doubts mid-writing.
> 
> Any remaining mistakes within are mine and mine alone.

 

There are a lot of things that Jimmy has expected in his life, but none of them were ever that it would actually happen.  
  
  
Jimmy asks to become a vessel of the Lord, knowing full well that it won't work because God doesn't exist. Well, he's mostly sure about that. There's no proof; historical accounts certainly don't match up with the stories from the Bible. Some people try to argue with him that the book is mostly metaphor, or that it's for teaching purposes, or that the stories were told to illustrate a point. A lot of others—far more than not—take what it says as  _fact_. Jimmy doesn't think he's ever wanted anything more than to prove them all wrong.  
  
No, that's not quite true. He can think of two things he's wanted more than that, but he's not sure which one of  _those_  ranks first. Is it supposed to be more important to hope for your girlfriend to say she'll marry you, or to hope that your baby will be healthy and normal and grow up into a beautiful, intelligent person? Jimmy doesn't know the answer to that, but he did want those more than he wants to prove people wrong. He's got two out of three already, so he figures this one will be a home run.  
  
  
For a long time, nothing happens. Jimmy makes notes and waits. He has to be patient. It wouldn't do to step out and say, "See! There is no god!" until he has sufficient proof.  
  
So he asks again, still expecting nothing. He supposes he should open his mind to the possibility that  _he's_  the one who's wrong. Maybe there is a God and he's ignoring Jimmy's request because he so adamantly refuses to believe.  
  
After he decides to allow room for error, that there's a chance of God's existence, he tries again. For over a year, he waits. He gathers his findings to share with the world—or, at least, the average 1500 hits a month on his blog; he's still not sure how to find out how many of those are "unique hits". He's pretty settled that he's won this one. Five years of asking and giving up his hard stance and he still has nothing to show for it.  
  
Victory is almost his! He can feel it. It may only be a small one, but if Amelia and Claire give up their faith once he presents his results, he'll be satisfied. He doesn't really need to convince anyone else. He's kind of tired of saying prayers over their meals. He only does it because Amelia asked him to a long time ago, and it's hard to convince her to let him stop now. He's not going to start a fight over it, though. He'll just show them what he's discovered.  
  
  
Then he hears it. He's asleep when it happens, and he's sure he dreamed it when he gains full awareness. He writes it down though, puts a big question mark beside it. Maybe someone had been calling his name, but Amelia is still asleep soundly beside him. He gets up and checks on Claire, but she's sleeping peacefully, too.  
  
He must have imagined it.  
  
  
It's 3 a.m. three weeks later when Jimmy hears it again. Someone calls his name, but by the time he wakes, the voice is gone. He doesn't know what to think. Maybe he's finally lost it. He starts looking for a counsellor, someone he can go talk to in confidence. He's afraid he might be branded insane or, worse, an unfit father, and then taken away from his family. But he has to know if this is normal, waking up in the middle of the night because someone called your name, but then no one's there.  
  
He sees two Christian counsellors who he thinks are lovely people, but they latch on to the idea that God might be talking to Jimmy and don't want to let it go. They want him to give them prophecies, or come to their churches and tell everyone what good news God is telling him. But he's got nothing of the sort; because there's nothing.  
  
Eventually, he can't stand them anymore. He stops seeing them, tells them politely a few times that he's not interested in being their pet prophet – because he can't tell them everything – but doesn't use that exact phrasing, and then less politely a few times before he one day just tells them to "Fuck OFF!" and hangs up. It's maybe the third time in his life that he's used that word, and it tastes wrong.  
  
So he finds a secular counsellor. It takes months. He hasn't heard anything in half a year, now, but he still wants answers. He tells his new counsellor everything—that he decided to ask for an angel of the Lord to come down and take Jimmy as its vessel because he wanted to prove that God doesn't exist; how he didn't hear anything for five years, and then it occurred to him that he should probably be willing to accept the possibility that God could be real. And then he'd started hearing someone calling his name in the dead of night.  
  
The counsellor tells him he sounds legitimately crazy, but she's willing to work with him until he either decides to medicate or give it up – but she concedes that he just might be right. She tells him she has to give him a diagnosis so his insurance will continue to cover the visits and says that aside from what they would professionally call religious hallucinations, he does sound like he could have some anxiety issues. He says that if that's what they have to do, he'll take it, if it means that he'll be able to come back. She writes down everything he tells her related to his decision to set out to disprove God's existence.  
  
He keeps seeing Dr Richards twice a month and updates her as he can. For weeks, nothing of note happens, but they still discuss what has happened.  
  
Then one night he's up late with a bout of insomnia, and he hears it again.  _Jimmy_ , the voice says.  
  
He stills, and asks who's there.  
  
 _I am Castiel, an angel of the Lord. We need to talk_ , the voice answers.  
  
Jimmy drops his glass. It shatters, and he bends to pick up the pieces. He's not sure he's heard correctly and says as much.  
  
The voice tells Jimmy that he's come to their attention.  
  
Jimmy doesn't know who 'they' are, or how he's come to 'their' attention. He casts a glance around, as if the mysterious voice – Castiel, he guesses – will just show itself.  
  
Castiel tells Jimmy that his prayers, the times he's asked to become a vessel, paired with his complete lack of faith, have caused some concerns. The voice tells him that the others didn't want it to contact him, at first, but changed their minds once Jimmy created room in his heart.  
  
Jimmy still isn't sure who 'they' are, but now he's certain that either he's having a – what did Dr Richards call it? A religious delusion? No, hallucination; that's right. He's either having a religious hallucination, or there's really an angel of the Lord talking to him. He asks where Castiel is, if it would show itself. He briefly wonders if angels even have genders, and if they're particular about how they're referred to, either way. Then he decides that's probably not very important right now.  
  
Castiel tells him that most humans can't see angels in their true forms and survive, but it might reveal itself later, if it can.  
  
Jimmy doesn't think he believes this. He asks for a sign that it's real and looks up at the ceiling, still holding the fragments of the glass he'd dropped.  
  
Castiel tells him to use one of the larger pieces of the glass and cut himself. That Castiel will heal the wound, and that should be sufficient.  
  
Jimmy says that that's asking a lot. What if Castiel is wrong and can't heal it?  
  
Castiel tells Jimmy that he has to have faith.  
  
So Jimmy cuts his palm all the way across, large and deep. It hurts—a lot—but he waits, dripping blood into the sink. He's pretty sure he needs stitches. Castiel tells him he won't.  
  
He hears Amelia moving around their room. "Jimmy? Are you okay?" She appears in the doorway to the kitchen. "What happened?"  
  
Jimmy looks back down at his hand, blinks in surprise to see whole skin. There's not even a mark. He thinks for a moment that he imagined it, but his blood is still in the sink. "I just dropped a glass," he says. "I'm fine. Go back to bed; I'll be there as soon as I clean up."  
  
She nods, says, "All right. Be careful you don't cut yourself," and goes to bed. He's more disturbed by the sight of his own blood all over the sink than he'll ever admit, so he cleans it up as quickly as possible and joins Amelia.

  
  
Castiel doesn't come back and talk to Jimmy for a few more days. Jimmy decides to tell Amelia that Castiel has been talking to him. She seems sceptical and asks if he didn't just dream it all up.  
  
Jimmy isn't sure.  
  
  
Jimmy and Amelia have some fights. A couple of them are about the usual things – money, Claire, sex – but most aren't, and it doesn't take long for Jimmy to wish for the arguments about bills. Amelia thinks he's insane. Jimmy's sure he isn't.  
  
  
Amelia asks him to leave after Castiel tells him to put his hand in a pot of boiling water.  
  
He goes out the front door and asks Castiel if it's time. He says that if Castiel will make sure his family is protected, he will be Castiel's vessel.  
  
There's a bright flash of light, and he doesn't remember much else.  
  
  
After a few months, he learns to observe what Castiel is doing. He and Cas haven't talked much; only once or twice if the angel has had a question. It's weird; almost like watching himself from a distance, only... not, quite. He doesn't know how to describe it. He feels very disassociated from himself, and he doesn't like it.  
  
One evening, out of nowhere, Castiel asks Jimmy if he'd like to be more clear on what they're doing. Jimmy doesn't know what that means, so he asks. Castiel tells him that he still has work to do, but if Jimmy wants, he will have an easier time talking to Castiel or asking questions about what they're doing.  
  
Jimmy considers it and decides that he wants to be able to talk to Castiel, but he's not sure he really wants to know what Castiel does. It gets lonely, being a silent passenger in his own body.  
  
  
He teaches Cas about pop culture. It's a good pastime when Jimmy gets especially bored and Castiel isn't doing anything particular. They don't get moments like this often, but Jimmy takes them as he can. He can't stand hearing Castiel's gravelly tones overriding his own voice to question a reference he hears or sees. Jimmy knows  _he's_  not the one misunderstanding, but those words  _are_  coming out of his mouth, and it's awful.  
  
Castiel tells him to pipe down, once.  
  
Jimmy says he's still an atheist.  
  
Castiel shuts up.  
  
  
Jimmy is starting to get used to the idea of sharing his skin with an angel maybe forever when the weirdest thing yet happens. Castiel reaches down into Hell for some jerk guy with a really pouty mouth and a douchey haircut. Jimmy kind of wants to punch the guy on principle. Cas says no, but he leaves the jerk where his body is buried. Jimmy concedes that that's fair enough.  
  
  
The douchey haircut guy and someone approximately the size of a moose are trying to call Castiel through some lady. He warns her to stop prying. She doesn't, and the sight of Castiel's true form causes her to go blind. Jimmy thinks that there must be a joke somewhere in that, but he's pretty sure that the angel won't get it anyway.  
  
  
Jimmy just stares at Douchey Haircut and the redneck serial killer in retirement when they shoot him. What did they use, rock salt? That shit  _stings_  like nobody's business! If Castiel wasn't controlling his limbs, Jimmy would be rubbing his chest where he got hit. He grumbles at the angel about it, but Castiel shushes him. Jimmy can't believe it.  
  
And then Douchey Haircut stabs him. Stabs him! The  _nerve_  of that guy, after Castiel brought him back from Hell and everything! Jimmy and Castiel look at their chest for a moment, and then Castiel knocks Retiree Serial Killer out with a little touch to his head.  _That's_  a good party trick.  
  
Douchey Haircut asks Castiel what he is. Jimmy thinks that's rude. You don't ask a guy in a meat suit what he is. Before he can say anything, Castiel answers the jerk. He says that he's an angel of the Lord and that Jimmy prayed to be his vessel. Jimmy snorts, thinks,  _Yeah, right, I didn't pray for you, you shit_ , but he guesses that that must be the traditional way for vessels to become vessels, so he lets it slide. Castiel goes on to tell Douchey Haircut that he pulled him from Hell because of God's orders, because God has work for him.  
  
  
Jimmy is vaguely aware of being in someone else's head for a moment, but it's just Castiel, talking to the douchey Winchester—in a dream. Jimmy is going to  _have_  to talk to his angel about boundaries. Just because you pull a guy out of Hell doesn't mean you can pop into his dreams whenever you want. Curiosity wins, after a while, and he asks Cas what he had to interrupt the jerk's sleep for.  
  
Castiel explains something about 'Witnesses'. Jimmy doesn't know what those are, besides Jehovah's Witnesses, and he's reasonably sure that those aren't what Cas is talking about. He decides he's not about to ask. The answer isn't that important.  
  
  
Castiel has decided it's funny to watch these damn Winchester brothers get exasperated when he 'misunderstands' something they say. Jimmy will never admit it, but he's all right with anything that pisses off the douchey brother. Dan, or Don, or whatever his name is. Jimmy doesn't really care to know. He's sure one day he'll know as a result of exposure, but he's not putting any effort into learning it.  
  
  
They have what Jimmy has started calling 'days off'—any day in which Castiel isn't arguing with other angels or coming to the aid of Sam and Dean. Jimmy is still disappointed at how quickly he learned their names, but seeing as they're constantly shouting for Cas, he thinks it was kind of hard to avoid.  
  
Jimmy convinces Cas to catch a double feature. He picks two films that won't upset Castiel's heavenly sensibilities too much and swears to Cas that they'll be fun. So Castiel agrees, and they sit through five hours of advertising, teasers, films, and credits. Jimmy keeps a running commentary through the whole thing.  
  
  
Castiel never takes them to the cinema again.  
  
Jimmy starts getting behind on his pop culture.  
  
  
  
  
  
It's Halloween, and Sam and Dean are hunting down some witches. Typical. Jimmy has just trailed off on a train of thought about bacon when he realises that they're standing in the Winchesters' hotel room with someone he doesn't quite recognise. Castiel fills him in that the other man is the angel Uriel. They've just found a hex bag that would have killed the brothers hidden in the wall of their room.  
  
The moose says some shit about 'awesome to meet you, Castiel!' and Jimmy wants to throw up in his mouth a little bit because it's so saccharine—sweet and forced and fake. Then Castiel calls Sam the "boy with demon blood", and everything is really awkward for a few minutes until Castiel follows it up with something about it being good that Sam isn't using his powers. Jimmy wasn't aware that anyone had any 'powers', but he's willing to bet that if Sam actually has any powers, he's using them. It's what he would do.  
  
But apparently Cas and Uriel are supposed to destroy this town so the witch won't raise Samhain. Jimmy thinks  _that's_  hardly fair: An entire town just for one stupid not—actually—extant enemy? Sam and Dean argue that they'll find the witch and kill her, and the angels don't have to kill everyone in the town. Jimmy tells Cas that it's pretty sexist to assume that the witch is a lady just because it's a witch. Men could be witches too, even if they call them something other than witches.  
  
Something's up with Uriel. Jimmy doesn't like that guy.  
  
They go, and Uriel starts complaining about people and how they should just go ahead and destroy the town anyway because that's what Uriel is good at. Jimmy really just wants to punch him in the teeth. Castiel tells Jimmy to settle down; they're not punching anyone. He points out to Uriel that they brought Dean back for specific reasons and besides, they have to follow their true orders.  
  
Jimmy still wants to punch Uriel. Specialist or no, that guy is a class-A dick. He finally gives them a moment alone, and Castiel and Jimmy have a quiet argument about this whole thing. In the end, Castiel confesses that he's not so sure about this plan from Heaven or what's right and wrong. If Jimmy was in a different body, he'd pat Castiel's shoulder and tell him, "Welcome to my life."  
  
It's like they've just had a moment, one of the few that Jimmy finds pleasant so far. The moment gets ruined when Castiel shows back up to Dean after they fail to stop this seal from getting broken and—surprise, surprise—Sam used his powers to send Samhaim to Hell. Jimmy totally saw that coming, but he decides to take the high road and keep his mouth shut.  
  
Castiel shocks them both by telling Dean that the orders Uriel and Cas had were to go with Dean's decision. Dean argues that he would do the exact same thing all over again because saving the town was worth it. And then Castiel says that he prayed that that would be the decision that Dean made and something about loving and respecting people because God made them, or something.  
  
Jimmy stops listening about halfway through that sentence. He's a pretty easy-going guy, but he definitely doesn't have respect for all people. Then again, he also still doesn't believe in God.  
  
  
Surprisingly, it is several months before either Sam or Dean says something that Jimmy doesn't catch. He supposes that the Winchesters are too busy hunting demons and trying to prevent the Apocalypse—something they're not likely to succeed at, in Jimmy's opinion—to keep up with  _all_  the goings-on in the world. Castiel seems more shocked that Jimmy missed a reference than anything else. The brothers don't seem to be able to tell the difference.  
  
  
There's some crazy lady who they say can hear the angels. Jimmy's missed most of this, except that Castiel and Uriel want to kill her. The Winchesters have the crazy lady squirreled away so the angels can't get her. Castiel gets all over-the-top theatrical and says, "She has to die," like they're in some kind of ridiculous spaghetti western or something, and Uriel has some other just as absurd thing to say, too. Jimmy really wants to give them lessons on lines and how to deliver them without sounding like complete idiots.  
  
And then they get banished. Jimmy's pretty sure he would care less if it wasn't really awkward, being the vessel during a banishing. It feels like being pulled apart at the seams and compressed into the tightest space all at the same time. Jimmy is surprised they have any bones left by the time they show back up on Earth. Jimmy asks Cas if they can please never, ever do that again because it's awful. Castiel says he has no way of knowing if or when they will be banished in the future. It's not exactly an easy thing to predict. He does at least have the decency to act apologetic about it, though.  
  
They find the brothers again, and Castiel and Uriel throw out some more terrible lines about handing over this crazy lady or whatever she is. Jimmy really couldn't care less, but he doesn't want to go back there and get banished again. He doesn't think his teeth can take it. This demon shows up with that one demon Sam has been hanging out with—Diamond? Opal? Whatever. They show up and start beating the hell out of Uriel and Castiel and, by proxy, Jimmy.  
  
Castiel tries to get rid of the demon, but it doesn't work, and then he gets pinned and the demon starts chanting something. Then Dean hits the demon across the back and distracts it. The crazy lady turns out to actually be an angel, but Uriel had her... whatever it is that makes angels into angels. That guy's creepy is the gift that keeps on giving. Jimmy wants a shower after being near him for five minutes. But they capture the other demon—Alastair, turns out—and take him away somewhere.  
  
  
Castiel does some more weird dream-walking business, even though Jimmy has told him that it's probably a bad idea. This time, it seems to be more of an astral plane than somebody's head, so it's maybe excusable, but Jimmy still doesn't quite think so. He peers at Dean through Castiel's lens just in time to hear Dean ask why he was pulled out of Hell if death is the natural order of things.  
  
Castiel just looks back at Dean and says, "You're different." Jimmy is pretty sure that his internal expression matches Dean's puzzled one.  
  
  
Jimmy asks Castiel how Dean is different, and Castiel avoids answering him. Jimmy thinks his angel might know something he's not willing to tell anyone else. He really doesn't care, but if he did, he would pry. He thinks he can use some reverse psychology to gather information. Failing that, he'll learn how to spy. He's almost certain that it's impossible to actually spy on angels, but he'll figure it out.  
  
It's a few days later when Jimmy decides that he's a little bit interested. He's not going to ask specifically about what Cas said, but he thinks he has some questions that will get him the information without being too obvious. Things like,  _So you had to be the one to pull Dean out of Hell?_  and,  _You like Dean better than Sam, don't you?_  It works remarkably well for about five questions, and then his angel catches on to what he's doing.  
  
All Jimmy knows is that Dean is somehow special to his angel, but he doesn't know why.  
  
  
Angels are dying. Castiel says they're from his garrison. Jimmy is surprised—it's news to him that Castiel is a soldier. When he remarks as much, Castiel dismisses the question, says of  _course_  he's a soldier. They have work to do, Cas says. They go with Uriel to pay the Winchesters a visit  _again_ , something about torture experience Dean gained while in Hell and using it to find out who's killing their angels.  
  
Dean tells them to fuck right off, which is completely fair, really, but of course that doesn't work out for him. They're all transported off to wherever the angels have stashed away Alastair, and Dean insists on a private chat with Cas. Uriel finally agrees, and that's when Jimmy finds out that that jerk got promoted to babysit Castiel. Privately, Jimmy thinks that Uriel as a glorified baby-sitter sounds about right.  
  
The people in charge of Castiel think he's emotionally compromised, especially in regards to the Winchesters. Jimmy holds his tongue, but only barely: Anyone can tell that he's gotten attached to the brothers. 'Emotionally compromised' is the key phrase in all of this. Castiel's judgment is clouded—he's become a bit of a loose cannon. Castiel asks Jimmy what he means by that, and Jimmy says he'll tell Cas when he's older.  
  
Castiel continues talking to Dean while Jimmy is being snarky. What he says must be convincing because Dean goes to torture Alastair. While Castiel is standing outside, the crazy angel lady shows back up and says that God couldn't have possibly actually ordered for Dean to torture anyone. She's very convincing; even Jimmy starts to think she might be on to something. But Castiel says, "You  _fell_ ," like it's something totally awful, and tells her to leave. Surprisingly, she leaves without another fight.  
  
During all of this, Alastair manages to escape and go after Dean, and then he gets Castiel trapped. Jimmy feels like he's being torn apart for a moment, but Sam disrupts whatever Alastair is doing and the feeling stops. Of course, Sam is using his supposed evil demonic powers again, but it saves Jimmy and Castiel. Sam kills Alastair, but not before they get told that demons aren't the ones killing the angels. Castiel disbelieves, and Jimmy still doesn't actually believe in most of this shit anyway.  
  
Jimmy steps back to give Castiel some privacy to talk to Uriel about whatever is wrong in Heaven. When he checks back in, he knows he must have missed something because Castiel is talking to the weird angel lady again. Jimmy still doesn't know her name, but he's pretty sure he can smell the crazy on her, so he doesn't think he even wants to find it out.  
  
In the end, it turns out that Uriel was the one who was killing angels. He wants Lucifer to escape and kill all humans, and any of the angels in Castiel's garrison—well, if they didn't want to join that party, they'd meet their untimely ends. Jimmy  _knew_  there was a reason he didn't like Uriel. But Castiel isn't about to join Uriel—at least, Jimmy hopes not. They fight, and Uriel gains the upper hand, and Jimmy is worried for a minute that he's going to end up like all those other angels, laid out dead. Then the fallen angel shows up and puts a dagger through Uriel's neck. Jimmy has to give her some credit: his first impression had been that she was just totally out of her mind, but she's actually kind of a badass.  
  
  
Jimmy tries to not meddle in the affairs of angels, even though he's a vessel. He has a feeling it won't lead to anything good.  
  
  
Apparently there's a prophet of the Lord who has been writing about the Winchesters. It gets really awkward when Castiel meets this guy. He's called Chuck, and he has no sense of personal or spatial cleanliness. The house they're in is  _disgusting_. Castiel is  _honoured_  to meet this bastard? Jimmy wonders if Castiel isn't crazy.  
  
  
  
The next thing Jimmy really remembers, he's in a half—destroyed warehouse, and he's stuck with the Winchester brothers. Castiel is gone. He doesn't remember what's happened. But he meets Sam and Dean as himself. They ask where Cas is, and Jimmy doesn’t know. He doesn't even remember what's happened. He's hungry, though.  
  
They question him about his possession. Jimmy tells them he's had enough of being a vessel. The last year has been objectionable enough. And then Sam has to ask if he remembers anything about his possession—anything at all. Jimmy rolls his eyes, tells them, "Yeah, bits and pieces. I mean, angel inside you, it's kind of like being chained to a comet." It's a lie, sort of, but he feels no need to tell them the whole truth. Sam and Dean stare at him for a moment at that answer, and then they tell him he can't go back to his family. Who do these brothers think they are?  
  
Jimmy manages to escape by feigning sleep and waiting for the moose to step out of the hotel room after Dean has fallen asleep. He gets to his family, and Amelia tells him they thought he was dead. He doesn't have words to apologise for that, so he lies and says he was in an institution getting psychiatric help—like she'd wanted. She tells him he can't stay, and he's not sure why.  
  
When he asks, she tells him it's too much. So he angles for dinner. It's simple, and it'll give him a chance to prove that he's normal again. But then their neighbours drop by, and turn out to be possessed by demons. Well, this is just what he needed on his first night home. How is he supposed to get back to a normal life if demons are following him? They escape, thanks to Sam and Dean, and Jimmy relents. He'll leave his family if it means they'll be safe.  
  
His family  _isn't_  safe. Amelia gets possessed and she and Claire are taken captive. The demons offer to trade Jimmy's family for him. Knowing he doesn't have another choice if he wants to see his wife and daughter again, he goes to meet the demons. He stares up at the sky as he walks towards the warehouse, angry all over again. "Castiel, you son of a bitch! You promised me my family would be okay! You promised you were going to take care of them. I gave you everything you asked me to give. I gave you more. And this is the thanks I get?  _This_  is what you do? This is your heaven? Help me, please. You promised, Cas. Just help me."  
  
He doesn't get a reply, but he doesn't really expect that. "Typical." Fucking angels. He goes on into the warehouse. The Winchesters are supposed to be there for back-up, but that doesn't work out so well. All they can do is watch when Amelia shoots Jimmy.  
  
Jimmy watches, horrified, as Castiel returns—only he doesn't come back to Jimmy, he comes back and into Claire. She defeats the demons and tells Jimmy that he has a place in Heaven for his service. Jimmy considers rolling his eyes at the suggestion, but in that moment it fully hits him that he's dying. He begs Castiel to possess him again, to let his family go.  
  
Castiel tells him that he's never going to age or die, and if he thought the last year was bad, he's got eons more of those to come. Jimmy tells him it doesn't matter. As long as Amelia and Claire are safe, it doesn't matter. Castiel finally agrees and leaves Claire. Jimmy gets one last look at his wife and daughter before they're on their way again.  
  
Jimmy doesn't even have anything left to live for. That's why he asked Castiel to come back. Even after he's lost everything, he's grown to enjoy Castiel's company in a bizarre sort of way, the way Castiel talks, and Castiel's voice as it filters over Jimmy's. Sharing his existence with Castiel hasn't been the best thing ever, but Jimmy's gotten used to it. He kind of likes Castiel's sense of humour.  
  
  
Jimmy is vaguely aware of something happening with the moose because Castiel lets him out of a panic room that Sam is locked in. When Jimmy questions it, Castiel tells him that he's only following orders. Jimmy thinks that's bullshit. Bobby and Dean are going to know something's up. They'll figure out soon enough that Castiel was the one who let Sam out, and they're not going to be happy about that.  
  
They don't have to wait too long. Zachariah and Castiel kidnap Dean. They put him in a holding room without doors. Jimmy doesn't know how that works anyway, but he's not going to question it. Questioning it is close enough to meddling in the affairs of angels, and that's still a thing he's not about to do.  
  
Castiel and Jimmy argue. Jimmy says he doesn't like being privy to bits and pieces of what's going on, and it's giving him a really poor impression of angels in general. If he's going to know anything that's going on, he wants to know it all. Castiel says that it's dangerous for him to know everything and Jimmy points out that he's already never going to see his family again. He deserves to know more than what manages to slip past Castiel's barriers. Eventually, Castiel relents and tells Jimmy that he will be more forthcoming with information in the future. Cas warns that Jimmy can't change his mind. Jimmy tells Cas that he's not going to.  
  
Jimmy gets to bear witness to Castiel apologising to Dean, followed by an argument about stopping the Apocalypse. Cas says they can't stop the Apocalypse because bad things would happen and then they leave Dean alone for a moment. Jimmy asks what their plan is. Cas answers that he's just got a plan, but he can't say what it is or Zachariah might catch on and make him stop.  
  
They go back to Dean and corner him but tell him to keep quiet. Jimmy watches in shock as Cas cuts their arm and draws a sigil with their blood. Drawing things with blood will never not be disgusting, Jimmy thinks. Zachariah obviously has picked up on Castiel's plan because he shows up to stop Castiel's mystery plan. Castiel puts his hand on the sigil, and Zachariah vanishes. Jimmy tells Cas he's full of neat party tricks. Castiel asks him what a 'party trick' is.  
  
Castiel tells Dean that he's going to take him to Sam so that Lilith won't get killed. That's the last of the seals to be broken, or something. It's the only way to avert the Apocalypse. They stop in to see Chuck on the way. Jimmy does not want to see that guy again, his house is dirty and he needs a shower. Castiel ignores Jimmy's arguments, though, and they go see Chuck anyway.  
  
Chuck tells Dean and Castiel that Sam is at the convent, and that's where Lilith is going to be, and then an archangel shows up. Castiel sends Dean on his way with the demon—killing knife to head off Sam so they can stop the Apocalypse from starting. Jimmy and Castiel stay behind with Chuck to head off the archangel.  
  
Unsurprisingly, the plan fails. Lucifer gets out of his cage anyway. Jimmy feels himself violently torn apart, and then nothing.  
  
  
  
  
  
The next thing Jimmy is really aware of is how impressively Castiel handles an angel sword. He's not sure what the difference is between an angel sword and a regular one, and Cas explains that the sword he's using can kill angels. Regular swords can't. Jimmy tells Castiel that he's going to have to stop being so awesome or Jimmy's going to swoon. He puts the air of a joke behind it so Cas won't freak out, but he's serious. He's really got to get a handle on his thing with Cas.  
  
Castiel makes his pensive expression and doesn't say anything. Instead, he burns a sigil into Sam and Dean's ribs so that angels can't find them, telling the brothers that they have to watch out because Lucifer will be taking a vessel soon. Jimmy wonders how Castiel is going to know where the Winchesters are if the sigils on their ribs hide them from angels. He doesn't particularly  _care_ , but he thinks that it might complicate things later.  
  
It's difficult for Jimmy to not say, 'I told you so!' when Castiel has to call the brothers to find out where they are. They're at a hospital with Bobby. Jimmy wants to know why they're at a hospital, and he's disappointed to hear that Bobby is in treatment. Over the past year, he's kind of come to see Bobby as a weird sort of father figure. Castiel and Jimmy get to the hospital, where Castiel tells the brothers that Heaven has cut him off because of the rebellion, and so he can't heal anyone now—among other things. Castiel apologises to Bobby for everything, but Bobby doesn't seem to want to hear it.  
  
But Castiel? He has a plan to find God. The Winchesters can't kill God, but Cas seems to think that God is out there, that God can end the Apocalypse. Dean and Sam both look incredulous. Castiel says that God has to be somewhere, but it's not Heaven. Dean says something about a tortilla, and Castiel asks Jimmy if he knows what that means. Jimmy is pretty sure it's a joke, but he doesn't get the reference. Cas replies to Dean that God isn't on "any flatbread".  
  
Jimmy tells Castiel that there's not a God right as Dean says that even if there is one, he's probably dead, and Castiel interrupts to assert that God isn't dead. Dean continues on, says that even if God is around, he "doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us". Jimmy is starting to diverge with Dean's theories here. He's certain that God doesn't exist in the first place. Dean's talking about how the world has gone to shit and God is drinking something tropical, probably with a tiny umbrella in it. Okay, so that last bit is Jimmy's spin on Dean's words, but why would you drink anything out of a coconut that wasn't in the coconut to begin with?  
  
Castiel ignores Jimmy and tells Dean that this is an issue of tactics, not of religion, and that God can help them win. Dean scoffs, tries to dismiss Castiel's words. Castiel starts in on both the Winchesters at that. "I killed two angels this week. My  _brothers_. I'm hunted. I rebelled and I did it— _all_  of it—for  _you_. And you? Failed. You and your brother destroyed the world! And I lost  _everything_... for  _nothing_." He stops for a moment. Jimmy just wants to hold him. Castiel is so sad. Sam and Dean look really uncomfortable, like they've just been caught doing something really bad. "So keep—your opinions to yourself." Dean at first refuses to hand over his little necklace talisman, but finally does, with some complaints, and Castiel leaves the brothers and Bobby in the hospital.  
  
  
Jimmy convinces Castiel to get a cheap hotel room for the night. He knows Cas doesn't need to sleep, but Jimmy is exhausted from watching the whole exchange that just happened. He's pretty sure that Cas could use some time to wind down, too, before the search for God begins in earnest. They take a shower as hot as the water will get at Jimmy's insistence. When they get done, Jimmy goes out on a limb and asks if it's all right if they—  
  
He's suddenly not sure how to frame the question. Sex with yourself is one thing, and sex with someone else is a different thing. But there's never been a question of sex with someone else when you share the same body. Castiel interrupts Jimmy's thoughts to ask what it is he wants to do.  _I feel... uncomfortable_ , Cas says, and then he clarifies that it's not a bad uncomfortable, just an unfamiliar one.  
  
It takes Jimmy about half an hour to figure out what kind of uncomfortable Castiel is and to explain to Castiel what Jimmy wants. When they finally establish that they have the same want, albeit for different reasons, they crawl into bed and Jimmy asks Castiel for his hands. Castiel gives them back to Jimmy, but he's confused about it. Jimmy asks Cas to trust him; he touches their face gingerly, trying for a comforting gesture. It's hard to tell if he's doing it right until the tension bleeds out of their shoulders. Jimmy reassures Cas that if he is discomfited, they don't have to do anything.  
  
Castiel says that he isn't uncomfortable with them doing this; it's just that... well, it's not exactly a thing that angels are supposed to do. He just doesn't want anything to happen because he's done something else he possibly shouldn't be doing. Jimmy points out that Castiel has been cut off from Heaven, and besides, most people barely consider masturbation as a form of sex, even if it technically is.  
  
Jimmy gets one hand around their cock and gives it a few experimental strokes. He knows what he always likes, but he's reasonably sure that Cas might like something different. They might be in the same body, but that doesn't mean they'll want to get off the same way. He asks Cas to tell him if he likes something—and if he doesn't like it. Even before Cas tells him, Jimmy can tell he likes it just a bit rough. He holds off on any dirty talk, figuring that they can get to it later. He's got an eternity to spend with Castiel at this point; surely they'll have some downtime in the future.  
  
Cas bites his lip when he comes. Jimmy dearly wishes he could see it.  
  
  
They go to ask Dean for help. On the way, Jimmy asks what they need help for, and Castiel tells him that they need to find Raphael. Jimmy doesn't know who Raphael is; Cas says he's the archangel that killed them. Yeah, Jimmy wants in on this now. They can take out Raphael for what he did and—Castiel tells him they're  _not_  going to kill Raphael. They're going to question him to find out where God is. Jimmy doesn't like that plan. He's sure they're not going to find God anyway because  _God doesn't exist_ , but Castiel just won't listen to reason.  
  
Dean reminds Cas about personal space—Jimmy has a laugh because he's been talking to Cas about that for  _months_ —but asks how Cas found him and why he's here. Castiel explains everything and details his plan. Dean disbelieves for a moment, says something about Thelma and Louise, which Jimmy is pleased to get, and considers a bit more. Jimmy thinks it's probably sad that he's happy to get a film reference that's almost 20 years old.  
  
Dean says he'll help—if they make a road trip out of it. Jimmy urges Cas to take the offer; he hasn't been on a road trip since he and Amelia first got married. Abruptly, sadness hits Jimmy like a tonne of bricks. He wants to see them again; even though he told Amelia that it would be fine if he was declared dead—Claire will get benefits from it, and they'll be able to move on with their lives—he wishes to be with them one last time.  
  
Castiel asks him what's wrong, and Jimmy can't articulate an answer. He tells Cas not to worry about it; ending the Apocalypse is more important right now. Dean asks Castiel what's going on, during the drive to Maine. Castiel says he'll tell Dean when he's older. Jimmy thinks that sounds familiar. Dean gives Castiel a strange look but doesn't say anything. Jimmy can feel Dean's eyes rest on them longer than necessary. He nudges Cas, who quietly tells Dean to keep his eyes on the road.  
  
Once they arrive, they pay the sheriff a visit to find out more. Castiel suggests telling the sheriff the whole story, but Dean tells him that that's a terrible idea. Jimmy echoes Dean's words and nudges him to take the FBI badge that Dean is offering him. Castiel takes it, puzzled, and Dean reaches out to adjust his tie. Jimmy watches Dean's expression shift, his hands linger at Castiel's collar. Jimmy wants to slap Dean's hands away and shout at him to back off, but he's still fairly sure that Castiel wouldn't appreciate it.  
  
They go talk to the sheriff, and Jimmy wonders if Castiel has learned anything at all from the brothers. He's shocked that they manage to convince the sheriff that Castiel is actually FBI, even though he looks the part. Somehow, Dean's "he's new" trick and some fast talking get them by, and they go to the hospital where Raphael's vessel is.  
  
Dean asks if that's what he can expect if he becomes Michael's vessel, and Castiel tells him no. It will be worse for Dean because Michael is so much more powerful than Raphael. Dean doesn't seem too pleased with the news. Castiel says they can use holy oil to trap and question Raphael. Jimmy thinks this sounds dangerous. Castiel tells Dean that he'll be unharmed since he is Michael's vessel, but Castiel may not make it. Jimmy wants to shout at Cas for this.  
  
Dean asks Cas what he wants to do for his last night. Castiel doesn't have any ideas; Jimmy thinks the question is a little weird, too. Dean starts asking questions and discovers that Castiel has never been with a woman. Castiel says to Jimmy that he's not quite sure about that. Jimmy tells Cas that by Dean's standards, Cas is still a virgin, but if Cas counts what they did in the hotel last week, he's not.  
  
Dean takes them to a brothel. Jimmy is appalled, and Cas is even more uncomfortable. Dean tries to get them to relax, to no avail, and then he introduces Cas to some girl. Castiel drinks his beer in one go, and Dean gives him some cash and tips about what he should and should not do. She takes Castiel back to a room, where he proceeds to tell her that her father left because he hated his job, not because of her. She starts screaming, and Dean shows up. When he finds out what happened, he laughs, but they have to split before they get tossed out or beat up. Dean gets a bit handsy towards Cas again, but at least he's keeping it all at shoulder—level.  
  
They go to the hospital room to try and summon Raphael in the circle of holy oil, but it doesn't work. Dean takes Castiel back to the empty house where they've stocked their gear. Raphael is waiting for them, and Jimmy is worried for a moment until Dean lights the holy oil to trap him. Dean talks some shit to Raphael in defence of Castiel, which only serves to prove to Jimmy that Dean has a serious thing for Cas. Raphael says that God is dead, and Jimmy says he never existed in the first place. Castiel doesn't believe either of them—though he's not about to let anyone know he's talking to Jimmy. He says they should go, and Raphael tries to warn Castiel against it, something about finding them and Jimmy stops listening because Raphael is a jerk. Castiel just laughs and calls Raphael his "little bitch". Jimmy offers a mental round of applause for that. He's glad Cas has finally gotten some balls.  
  
Dean tries to give Castiel a pep talk about deadbeat dads, but it goes over Castiel's head. Jimmy doesn't appreciate how Dean is trying to squirm his way into Castiel's life or heart, or whatever that jerk's game is.  
  
  
Jimmy has a dream that he and Castiel are in the future, and Castiel has turned into some sort of hippie, drug—using, orgy—having cult leader. Jimmy wonders why he can't have these dreams about himself. He's never so lucky.  
  
He wakes up, and they're standing by a highway. Castiel explains that he wanted to join Dean in search of the Colt, but Dean wanted to go in the morning, so they're waiting. Jimmy isn't sure why they're just standing by the highway, but before he can ask, Dean suddenly shows up with them on the highway. Dean compliments Castiel on his timing, and Castiel gracefully dismisses it, like it was nothing.  
  
Jimmy thinks Cas might be picking up on what Jimmy's been trying to teach him, after all.  
  
  
There's a long period where Jimmy doesn't know or care what's going on with Castiel or the Winchesters. It's still Castiel's fault that his wife was possessed and that his family was almost killed. Becoming Castiel's vessel again means that they'll be safe, though, and that's worth more than anything anyone could offer him. He grieves for Amelia, for Claire, for everything he left behind. It would have been better to have never asked to become a vessel to disprove the existence of God. But here he is.  
  
He suddenly becomes aware of Gabriel when Castiel is banished and then brought back to wherever the Winchesters are. Castiel finds the brothers and tries to get them out of what appears to be a game show of some kind, but Gabriel banishes him. Jimmy is really, really sick of being banished. He says as much to Cas, and adds,  _Have I mentioned it before? Because it's terrible_. Castiel wonders who "Dr Sexy" is, and why Dean thinks he's so hot. Jimmy is just glad that Dean's attention is elsewhere for the time being.  
  
Castiel finds them again at some hotel set, and tries to warn the brothers about what's going on, but Gabriel shows up. With a flick of his wrist, he throws Cas into the wall and tapes his mouth shut. Castiel glares at him, and Jimmy starts to sense that Cas is not  _entirely_  upset with this turn of events. Before they can say or do anything, Gabriel banishes him again. Jimmy could really do without this banishing bullshit.  
  
Gabriel brings Castiel back. Dean asks if Cas is all right, and Cas says he is. Then he levels his stare at Gabriel and calls him by name. Gabriel says, "Hey, bro. How's the search for Daddy going? Let me guess: Awful." Castiel doesn't respond. He has nothing to say, and the Winchesters have Gabriel caught in a circle of holy fire. After arguing with the trapped angel for a few minutes, they leave Gabriel behind. Sam sets off the fire extinguishers to let him out of the holy oil fire. Damn, those boys really love that stuff, don't they?  
  
  
Castiel wants to get with Gabriel. Jimmy has a hunch about it, but it's confirmed when Cas tells him they need to find somewhere private to stop. Jimmy starts to ask why, but Castiel already has their trousers undone. And damn, where did Cas learn the thing he's doing? Jimmy doesn't remember anyone ever doing that to him before, but he needs to remember that for later. He forgets what it is as soon as he comes. All he can think of is Castiel and his Batman voice. For a moment, Jimmy sees Gabriel's smirking face. It hits him that he's just seen into Castiel's unguarded mind, and suddenly Jimmy feels like he's intruding into something he shouldn't be witnessing.  
  
He honestly can't blame Cas, though. Jimmy doesn't consider himself even the slightest bit bi-curious, but he has serious respect for Gabriel and what he does. Secretly, Jimmy thinks he might get on better with Gabriel as his angel than with Cas, but it's not like he can trade angels or anything.  
  
He tries not to think about what his thing for Castiel is, what it would mean for Jimmy's usual blue-blooded, heterosexual masculinity thing. Castiel is a class of his own, Jimmy supposes. Or this is, like, Stockholm Syndrome or something. Jimmy still doesn't want to think about it.  
  
  
Castiel finds Crowley, a crossroads demon. He follows Crowley against Jimmy's advice and they find a house protected by weird-looking symbols. Castiel calls Dean with this news, and the Winchesters recruit Ellen and Jo Harvelle to help them. They manage to get into the house and when they all meet up later, Dean shares that Crowley just handed the Colt over and told them where Lucifer is. Jimmy thinks that sounds weird. They start drinking, and Bobby wants to take a picture of everybody. Jimmy is  _drunk_. He knows Cas doesn't feel the liquor much, but Jimmy is only human, and he usually had maybe half a glass of wine with dinner before he became a vessel, and Cas drank a lot. If Jimmy didn't have Cas in his body too, he'd probably be passed out on the floor right now. Or dead. Maybe dead. He doesn't actually know how many shots they've done, but he lost count after about 25.  
  
Jimmy is nursing a killer hangover when he realises that Castiel has gotten them trapped in a ring of holy oil fire. He wants to yell at Cas that this is what they get for trapping Raphael in holy oil, but Cas tells him that Raphael isn't the one who caught him: Lucifer is. Jimmy swears, and Castiel reprimands him for it. Lucifer shows up and walks around the burning circle, saying weird shit to Castiel and calling him "peculiar". Lucifer leaves Meg to baby-sit Cas in the burning circle, but Cas manages to knock her into the fire and uses that as his escape. Then he saves the Winchesters again.  
  
Jimmy is impressed. It's getting out of hand. He doesn't know how well it bodes that he's got these feelings for an angel who possessed him. Stockholm syndrome, he reminds himself. He needs to stop, and besides, he's still at least sort of married. He's pretty sure that Amelia would have started dating someone else by now, since he's officially dead now.  
  
  
Jimmy learns the hard way just how disorienting time travel is. He feels like he's just been jumped by half a dozen huge guys or something. He's not sure where—or when—they are, but then Dean and Sam show up. Castiel tells them that he's fine, and yes, he knows he's bleeding from the head but he's  _fine_. The next thing Jimmy knows, they're back in the year they're supposed to be in again, but he still feels awful.  
  
  
After the time-travel incident, Jimmy asks Cas if they can just take a holiday to recuperate. It's obvious that they both need a respite of some sort. Castiel, naturally, declines because the Apocalypse is still on. Jimmy had almost forgotten about that. Of course they still have to stop the Apocalypse. They're never going to catch a break, are they?  
  
Jimmy is hungry. Castiel doesn't really feed them; he doesn't need to eat, and even though Jimmy gets tired or hungry sometimes, not so noticeable as long as Cas is around. He doesn't want to think about how ravenous he was when he and Castiel were on a break. Castiel asks if that's what they have to call their temporary separation, and Jimmy tells him, emphatically, yes, and is Dean going to eat that burger? Castiel asks Dean, but before he can eat any of it, Cupid arrives.  
  
Cupid is really weird, even for an angel. He gets all emotional and hugs them all too many times and says that he's not the one who killed all those people. Cas chides Jimmy and tells him that Cupid isn't a standard angel, he's a cherub. They're different. Cherubs are a little stupid, Cas informs Jimmy, and Jimmy asks if that isn't a rude assumption to make. Castiel says that humans are stupid, too, and Jimmy really shouldn't take it personally that Cherubs aren't the brightest crayons in the box.  
  
Jimmy has this awful craving for a bacon cheeseburger, and the weird thing is, Cas notices. They eat about two dozen delicious bacon cheeseburgers before they have to go find Sam and Dean again. The brothers seem surprised to see Castiel stuffing his face. Jimmy waits for the explanation, too; even he isn't quite sure what's going on.  
  
Castiel says, "It's my vessel," which annoys Jimmy. After all this time, he's still just a vessel? They've been sharing a body for almost three years, and for the past several months they've been doing this quasi sex thing—Jimmy still doesn't really know what to call it—and now he's just a vessel? They're not even friends by now? But Castiel explains that because of this horseman, because of Famine, he's really noticing that Jimmy hasn't eaten in an incredibly long time, and he's starving.  
  
Well, that explains a lot.  
  
Dean and Castiel look for Famine, and Cas keeps eating the delicious hamburgers. Jimmy notices that Dean is shifting uncomfortably because Castiel keeps making these hugely inappropriate noises while eating. They finally find Famine, but the horseman has left out an astonishing amount of raw ground beef. Castiel gets distracted, despite having declared earlier that "I can stop any time I want", and Sam has to come save the day again.  
  
  
Castiel asks if Jimmy is ever going to let him live that down. Jimmy says absolutely not.  
  
  
They find out that God isn't going to intervene to stop the Apocalypse. Castiel doesn't want to believe it for a moment, and then he returns Dean's amulet because there's no point in finding God now. Jimmy wants to comfort Cas, but he's not sure how to because he's still sure that God doesn't exist in the first place.  
  
Jimmy is pretty sure he's dead. There's no way he isn't. Castiel just drank probably fifteen times Jimmy's volume in booze. No, it has to be more than that. What's the approximate volume of booze that liquor stores carry anyway? Somehow, they make it to the Winchesters' motel, and Castiel tells Sam that his voice is grating. Sam asks if Cas is smashed, and of course, Cas denies it. Then he says yes, and, "I found a liquor store." He gets an appraising look for his admission and then tells Sam, "I drank it!" Like Sam shouldn't think that it's some big thing that he wanted to get shitfaced because God isn't going to help them. When Sam asks if he's okay, Castiel tells him to shut up and not ask stupid questions.  
  
Dean comes back to the room and asks Cas where the hell he's been. Cas gives him a sharp look and says, "On a bender!"  
  
Castiel tells the brothers that the prophet in this town isn't a prophet. He knows them all by name, and she's  _definitely_  not one of them. Dean asks what she is, then, and Castiel says that she's the Whore. He means that she's the Whore of Babylon, Jimmy figures, but he's kind of too drunk to get that far. Dean says, "Wow, Cas, why don't you tell us what you really think?"  
  
Castiel manages to play it off like he doesn't know what Dean is on about. He tells them about the Whore of Babylon and what she does. They ask about the demons—working for her—and then about the Enochian incantation that the townspeople have been using. Cas tells them it's fake and says, "It actually means, 'You, uh, breed with the mouth of a goat.'" He has a wee laugh and the moose and the jerk exchange looks like they don't know what's going on, and Cas says, "It's funnier in Enochian." Jimmy doesn't really believe him; then again, every angel he's met who isn't Cas or Gabriel really has a stick up their ass or is that one fallen angel, Anna.  
  
Cas gets them the appropriate weapon to kill the whore, but none of them are 'true servants of God' like they have to be to carry out the execution. He gets the pastor of the church group, and they explain that he is the one for this task. Dean later brings Cas a bottle of aspirin and tries to give him another deadbeat dad pep talk. Jimmy has half a mind to scoff at it, but Castiel seems comforted.  
  
They  _almost_  have her, and she manages to take Cas out with some, Jimmy guesses, Enochian spell, and he doesn't know if she gets killed or not until they're making their escape. Sam asks Dean how he killed her if none of them were supposed to be true servants, and Dean shrugs it off like it's nothing. He denies that he's considering becoming Michael's vessel, but Jimmy can smell the bullshit.  
  
  
He tells Castiel that Dean is hiding something, so Cas teams up with Sam to get Dean to Bobby's place. It works long enough for Cas to be pulled away for something—and Jimmy still hates it when they do that weird spatial-travel thing, it's not very comfortable—and he comes back with a kid who is apparently Sam and Dean's brother. There's some arguing about whether this is actually going to work or not, and it results in Dean getting put in Bobby's steel-trap panic room.  
  
Sam and Cas stop by the panic room to see Dean. Castiel and Dean look at each other for a long moment before Dean says, "Not for nothing, but last person that looked at me like that? I got laid." Jimmy takes stock of what his expression felt like and has to concede that it probably was almost a smouldering, come-hither sort of look. He's pretty sure that the last time he looked at someone like that, he got laid.  
  
He leaves the boys to have a heart-to-heart talk and goes to watch out after Adam. Dean figures out how to trick Cas so he can escape. God _dammit_ , Jimmy hates being banished. Castiel starts to comment on that but stops himself and settles for just feeling annoyed.  
  
Castiel finds Dean and knocks out the preacher who was praying to bring Zachariah and the other angels around. He drags Dean into an alley and starts beating the hell out of him, shouting, "I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them?" Dean starts to beg him to stop, and Castiel cuts him off. "I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me?" Jimmy barely convinces Cas to stop and take Dean back to Bobby's.  
  
It's a huge mess. By the time they get back, Adam is gone. Sam asks what happened to Dean, and Castiel says, "Me." They get Dean back in the panic room and handcuff him to the bed so he won't escape again until they can figure out a plan. Castiel takes them to an abandoned warehouse where the Green Room is and tells them what to do. The brothers are momentarily confused because the plan sounds terrible – and, well, it  _is_. The whole thing ends with Castiel banishing a bunch of angels, including himself.  
  
  
When Jimmy wakes up, he's in a hospital. He doesn't know where he is, but he has a feeling he's maybe in a psych ward somewhere, the lie he told Amelia after Cas left him the first time come true. He tries calling out to Cas, and Cas grumpily answers him that he can't transport them anywhere, that they are effectively a human with multiple personalities. Jimmy warns him to not say that too loud, or they'll never be able to stop the Apocalypse.  
  
The doctors are amazed that Castiel is awake: They thought he was brain-dead. Castiel calls Dean and tells him everything that's happened, that he needs money so he can get out of the hospital and come to them, and that he's sorry for losing his faith in Dean. Jimmy thinks Castiel's apology is just weird, something about Dean being a burnt and broken shell of something, and that's not how apologies are supposed to go. In any case, it seems to work, because Castiel gets some money and gets on his way to finding the Winchesters.  
  
Pestilence: the most disgusting horseman of the Apocalypse. Jimmy thought Famine was bad, but damn. Jimmy is too squeamish for anything involved in the medical profession, so having to get rid of this horseman is close to the worst thing he's ever heard of doing. There's so much blood and sick, and Jimmy doesn't think he can handle it. It probably doesn't help that he's kind of upset that he managed to miss the boys getting after War.  
  
Pestilence seems perplexed with Castiel, amused even. He mocks Castiel for being an 'occupied vessel', but without the powers of an angel. Castiel grabs the knife the boys had and cuts Pestilence's finger off. Jimmy is proud of them for not fainting at the sight of all that blood.  
  
They get back to Bobby's place to discuss what needs to happen next, and Bobby tells them that Death is going to be in Chicago. Before they can fully formulate a plan for everything, Crowley appears. Jimmy thinks if that guy wasn't a demon, he'd be pretty all right. Castiel tells him to keep those thoughts to himself.  
  
Castiel is annoyed because he thinks he's useless. He doesn't see the point of a shotgun. Why should he? But he helps pack the van, and Crowley brings Dean a sickle that he alleges belongs to Death. Castiel doesn't know whether he should believe that or not, but Crowley hand-waves it with the fact that he's currently in charge of the crossroads demons.  
  
Castiel goes with Sam and Bobby to take care of the facility with the Croatoan virus 'vaccine' while Dean hunts for Death. Jimmy wishes they could be a fly on the wall for Dean's interaction with Death. During the scuffle in the facility, Castiel shoots and kills one of the infected people – with a headshot, no less. He makes a soft 'hmm' sound and comments that hey, shotguns  _can_  be useful.  
  
Dean reports back that Death just gave him the ring, with a few conditions. And that Death can apparently reap God. Jimmy is duly impressed. He'd always liked the stories of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, even through the questioning and loss of his beliefs. It had always been a toss—up between War and Death who was the coolest, and, well, Jimmy missed out on War. He tells his inner twelve-year-old that adults don't really say 'cool', and especially not about the four horsemen.  
  
  
Castiel asks Jimmy if this is what it's like, being human. Jimmy says that he doesn't know, since he doesn't really know what it's like to be an angel. But they should go ahead and get on with the plan to stop the Apocalypse. Dean has finally decided to support Sam in his plan, even if it isn't necessarily the best plan and even if he isn't particularly happy about it.  
  
Jimmy starts worrying about Castiel when they pass out in the back seat of the Impala. Well, when  _Cas_  does: Jimmy is still aware of their body. They arrive in Detroit for Sam to become Lucifer's vessel and put him in the cage. Cas watches Bobby say good-bye to Sam, and then Sam comes over to him and offers a hand and asks him to take care of Bobby and Dean. Castiel looks Sam dead in the eye and says, "That's not possible." Sam scoffs a little and Cas realises, "Oh. I was supposed to lie. Sure, they'll be fine—" And Sam asks him to shut up.  
  
Sam drinks all the demon blood in preparation to accept Lucifer. For a moment, Jimmy wants to say he'll pray for Sam, but he can't do that. So he stands by Bobby and watches the Winchesters go up to meet Lucifer. He's not sure what's happening, but it takes longer than he thinks it's supposed to. But a bright light fills the upper levels of the building, so Jimmy guesses that the plan worked – at least, part of it did.  
  
Dean tells them that the plan did not work out how they'd hoped. They're walking past an electronics store where the news is relaying information about tidal waves and earthquakes all over the world, and Castiel says that it's starting. Dean scoffs at that and asks what he suggests they do. Castiel shrugs and suggests they drink themselves half to death and just wait. Dean says, "Yeah, thanks, Bukowski," and Jimmy giggles. These catastrophic events are making him feel weird, like he's drunk or something. Bobby says there wasn't much in the way of hope from the start. Dean argues that point with him, and they get nothing accomplished.  
  
Castiel and Bobby catch Dean about to leave in the middle of the night. They try to talk him out of attempting to go talk to Sam, but that doesn't work out so well. Dean finishes tossing everything into his car and gets in. He's determined to get to Lawrence, to not make Sammy die alone on the battlefield. All Castiel can think about is that Dean almost said yes to Michael. He's not sure he can handle the thought of seeing Sam and Dean fighting each other in an angelic duel to the death.  
  
Castiel and Bobby show up before much happens. Castiel embarrasses Jimmy more than he has any time so far by shouting, "Hey! Ass-butt!" He makes up for it by throwing a holy oil Molotov cocktail at Michael.  
  
Jimmy laughs so hard he's sure he'd be crying if he was the only one in his body, and tells Cas that he should have said 'asshole' or 'ass-wipe', or maybe even 'douchebag'. Castiel just seems confused by the options, so Jimmy relents and tells him that 'ass-butt' was fine, but he shouldn't say it again.  
  
Dean watches, shocked, and, just as Jimmy did, says, "'Ass-butt'?" Castiel halfway shrugs and says that Michael will be back and angry, but Dean has five minutes. Sam—no, Lucifer, tells Castiel that nobody messes with his brother but Lucifer. And then Jimmy feels himself torn apart again, bloody, worse than when Raphael killed Castiel almost a year ago.  
  
Jimmy has just enough time to swear at everyone and everything before all he knows is nothing.  
  
  
Lucifer and Michael are gone when Castiel makes it back to the field. Jimmy is disoriented. He can still remember being pulled apart, but he's whole. All of his pieces are where they're supposed to be. Dean seems shocked that Cas is alive. Cas says he's better than just alive and heals Dean with a touch to his head. Dean stares up at him for a long moment and stands, asking, "Cas, are you God?"  
  
Jimmy scoffs at the suggestion. No, Castiel isn't God— _nobody_  is. Cas smiles, though. "That's a nice compliment, but no. Though, I do believe he brought me back." He turns and heads towards Bobby, and Jimmy says, "New and improved." He's shocked to hear the words actually come out of their mouth. Castiel heals Bobby, and they get on their way home. Or, well, to whatever home they make.  
  
  
Dean asks Cas what he's going to do now. Castiel shrugs, considers it for a moment, and says he's going to go back to Heaven. Dean scoffs at that. Castiel points out that everything has probably gone to shit since Michael is in the cage now. Dean laughs at that, says something about Cas being the new sheriff in town. Jimmy thinks that has a nice ring to it. Castiel says, "I like that. I suppose I am."  
  
Dean makes a crack about Cas getting a 'brand-new, shiny set of wings' and suddenly he's God's bitch again. Castiel says he doesn't know what God is doing, and Dean scoffs. He goes on a small tirade about how it's easy for Cas to have faith in God, since he got brought back, but Dean has nothing. His brother's gone, he got nothing. What is he supposed to do now?  
  
Castiel says, "You got what you asked for, Dean. No paradise, no Hell. Just more of the same." Dean says nothing. Castiel raises an eyebrow at him. "I mean it, Dean. What would you rather have: Peace or freedom?"  
  
  
  
  
Castiel takes about a week 'off' after they leave Dean. He and Jimmy don't do anything special; they just find a deserted beach and sit. Every time Castiel's thoughts begin to wander towards the Winchesters or the Apocalypse, Jimmy herds him back towards less emotional things. Like how warm the sun is, or how blue the water looks when there's nothing to see for miles. Jimmy will even take Castiel having inappropriate thoughts about Gabriel over him getting weepy over the Winchester family. And Jimmy  _really_  doesn't want to know any more about what Castiel thinks of Gabriel.  
  
In turn, Castiel keeps Jimmy from dwelling too much on the loss of  _his_  family. He knows how profoundly it hurts, but he doesn't know what to tell Jimmy to help it hurt less. He's not very good at being human. He's not supposed to be, but he still hopes that perhaps eventually, Jimmy will have shown him enough to teach him something. When he mentions this, Jimmy chuckles and tells him,  _I think I already have, if you're telling me that you want to learn from the terrible example I am._  
  
They talk. Jimmy has a hell of a time coming up with good questions for Castiel, since he's not even sure what angels  _do_  when they're not baby-sitting two overgrown children or averting the end of the world. Castiel seems equally confused. Jimmy supposes that selling ad time for AM radio isn't very exciting, either. So, instead, they work to find topics they can both discuss that aren't the Apocalypse, the Winchesters, or Jimmy's family.  
  
It's funny, getting to know Castiel once the world isn’t ending. Jimmy has been thinking of him as a bit of an oddball, terrible at relating to anyone but competent with whatever his task at hand is. He's coming to see his angel as kind, compassionate, driven by a deep, unconditional love for his brothers and sisters and humanity as a whole. It makes Jimmy wish that he had taken more time to ensure that the people he loved knew it. Castiel tells him not to worry about that:  _You made a great sacrifice for your family. No one will forget that._  
  
They sit back and watch the dust settle. Jimmy has a fleeting thought that he could stay here for the rest of eternity, and he would be happy as long as Cas is here with him. Castiel mentally nudges him, politely letting him know that while he doesn't mind the wandering off into his thoughts, he just wants to know that Jimmy doesn't go too far or into depressing avenues.  
  
It's hard not to fall in love with him when everything is like this.

  
  
Jimmy asks Castiel about his ex-vessels, or if he's even had any. He wants to know what his angel did before he came into Jimmy's life. Castiel seems to think it's disrespectful for Jimmy to assume that he's never had a vessel. Jimmy tells Cas he's not judging him, he's just curious. Cas says he's much older than he looks.  
  
Castiel tells him about some of the far-flung angelic history. He talks about how things were when everybody got on, but then God made people, and Lucifer didn't respect them like God wanted all of the angels to. The arguments got so bad that Gabriel left. Castiel says that before the Winchesters found Gabriel—well, the time it happened after Cas met them—he hadn't seen Gabriel in eons.  
  
Cas says that Jimmy probably knows the rest of that story—Lucifer gets thrown out of Heaven, he gets even more upset, and he makes Lilith, the first demon. And that's when God put him in the Cage.  
  
Jimmy abruptly tells Cas that he's sorry about Gabriel. He wishes that he could do something; he knows how Cas felt about his brother. It's a little weird, but they're angels, and Jimmy guesses that relationships work a little differently among them than they do among humans. Castiel says that he will deal with his grief in his own way, and Jimmy need not concern himself with it.  
  
Jimmy is back to the 'I just want you to be happy' phase of everything. He likes it better than being a grumpy old married couple. He must be thinking too loudly because Castiel abruptly asks him if they don't have to have a ceremony or sign some papers in order to be married, and while Cas has been around for longer than the Earth, Jimmy is still quite young. Jimmy tells Cas that it's just a metaphor, it doesn't actually mean that they're married. Great, and now they’re right back to 'grumpy old married couple'.  
  
He cautiously asks Castiel to tell him more about before, but to skip the parts that Jimmy already knows. Cas sighs dramatically—seriously? Of  _all_  the things he could have learned from Jimmy, and it's to lay heavy on the sarcasm?—and obliges.  
  
Castiel talks about when the Earth was young and a time he stood on a beach with one of his brothers and they watched a very special little fish pitch itself up out of the water. He tells Jimmy about Cain and Abel, and the Tower of Babel – not particularly tall. Also not very sturdy, but what did they really expect, making bricks out of shit? Cas chronicles the stories of David and Goliath, Sodom and Gomorrah, Joseph's lucky rise to power in Egypt; he discusses earthquakes and floods and the evolution of society. He tells Jimmy about the Nephilim.  
  
And it turns out that there have been a lot of Apocalypse-like events. No actual Apocalypses, until the one that Sam and Dean didn't manage to avert, but the sort of thing that home and car insurance companies call 'acts of God'. Huge, destructive storms. Floods wiping out entire civilisations. Jimmy concludes that if God actually exists, he's a giant dick. Castiel doesn't correct him, for once.  
  
  
They're sitting in Castiel's favourite Heaven when he points out the irony that Jimmy is still an atheist despite everything he's seen now. Add to that the fact that Jimmy has twice asked to be a vessel and that twice they've been torn apart and put back together, and it seems odd that he hasn't changed his mind. Jimmy tells him that for all they both know, Jimmy could be locked away in a padded room somewhere, wearing white scrubs and being given pills three times a day so he doesn't go into a psychotic rage. Seeing demons and other angels and even heaven? That's not incontrovertible proof of the existence of God. In fact, it's a better argument for insanity than anything else.  
  
With as long as they've had trouble even finding the guy, Jimmy just can't believe it. He can accept the existence of a lot of things, but he's nowhere near sold on the idea of God. Castiel may be concerned about it, but the other angels weren't—and maybe still aren't, and that's enough doubt for Jimmy to remain at least mostly certain. He's seen enough evidence to support the existence of angels, but that doesn't mean that there's a God. Demons, werewolves, spectres, ghosts, vampires, all that shit? Sure. The 'pagan gods'—well, basically the god for any religion but the major five of the world? He's not quite as sure about those, but they seem plausible, after all he's seen. The Christian God? Hell, no. Not Buddha or Allah or any other modern god, either. There's nothing to support the idea.  
  
Jimmy refuses to call the ideas of various gods 'theories' because theories have scientific evidence backing them up. Religion doesn't.  
  
Castiel asks him to stop with his rambling for five minutes. They have work to do, and they don't need to be distracted by questions of whether or not any or all or none of the various gods—the one Castiel works for included—exist. Jimmy quiets down, mostly because he's curious to see what's going to happen now. He still wonders what would happen if he and Castiel had different bodies, but he doesn't think it's appropriate to ask about that while Cas is trying to regroup with the angels to rebuild Heaven.  
  
  
The angels are shocked and amazed to find out that Cas is still around. Castiel says he came back, and the Winchesters should get all the credit. Rachel says that's unlikely and points out that they defeated the archangels. God must have brought Cas back, so he could lead them! Cas tells her that nobody is leading them: They can make their own choices now.  
  
She presses, wants to know what God requires. Castiel says he wants them to be free, and she asks what they're supposed to do with their freedom. Jimmy tells Cas, "Freedom is a length of rope. God—if he exists—probably wants you to hang yourself with it." Castiel doesn't understand, and he never quite answers Rachel's question.  
  
  
It's  _amazing_  how hard it is for angels to grasp the concept of freedom. Apparently Raphael notices, too, because he calls Cas to come visit for a chat and says that he's going to have a full assembly, and all of the angels have to be there and commit to Raphael. Jimmy says, "Are you joking?" and somehow, even in Heaven, it comes out of Castiel's mouth. Raphael asks Cas if it  _looks_  like he is, and Castiel mutters, "You  _never_  look like you're joking."  
  
Raphael tells Castiel that because he defied God and everyone up here, he's got to make up for it. Resuming the Apocalypse will be a great place to get started. They argue over whether the Apocalypse even needs to happen, how anyone knows what God's will is, and if angels are even capable of free will. Castiel thinks so—he's capable—but Raphael disagrees. Jimmy thinks they're both wrong, on some level: angels likely have a modicum of free will, but it's unlikely that there is a "God's plan" or "God's will". He doesn't get to say his piece. Just to prove some point, Raphael kicks Castiel's ass and leaves him in his favourite heaven.  
  
  
Castiel knows he'll lose this fight, especially right now. He goes with the intention of asking Dean for help, but he can't bring himself to do it. After all Dean has done, Cas can't ask him to sacrifice even more. While he's contemplating, Crowley appears to make a proposition. Crowley says he wants to do some mutually-beneficial business.  
  
Cas laughs at Crowley. "You want to make a deal? With me? I'm an  _angel_ , you ass. I don't have a soul to sell." Crowley says something about that being the point, Raphael's head on a pike, and happy endings—yes, the double—entendre kind. Castiel doesn't want to hear it, but Crowley convinces him to listen for just a few minutes.  
  
Jimmy tries to warn Castiel to not do this: demons will do anything to fuck anyone and everyone else over. Or has Cas forgotten that? But Castiel thinks he's smarter than Crowley. He tells Jimmy not to worry; he's only going to listen. Crowley takes him down to Hell, which seems to be a never-ending queue. Jimmy is confused: Isn't Hell supposed to be all fire and brimstone and torture and—oh wait; now it makes sense.  
  
Crowley asks Cas something about what his plan is and suggests that Cas resist. Castiel says that he can't and Crowley knows it. Crowley tells Cas that he could get a lot of support in Heaven, God likes him a lot, and he's got charisma, sex appeal. Cas thanks him, but he wants to know what point Crowley is trying to make.  
  
Jimmy loses his shit when Crowley suggests starting a civil war. Castiel does, too, but his interest is piqued when Crowley mentions Purgatory. It's a hard sell; Cas isn't about to ask Dean to start hunting again. King of Hell says, no worries, he'll just put Samuel Campbell into play. It's a simple plan, really: The hunters get the monsters; the monsters get them Purgatory, no problem.  
  
When Castiel asks what the price is, Jimmy knows it's too late to try to reason with him. Crowley wants half the souls in Purgatory, and Cas unsuccessfully tries to haggle. Crowley tells him that those souls will help him secure his position as King of Hell, and it would be better for him to stay in charge. They argue more about how long this idea is going to take, and Crowley pitches Cas 50,000 souls. It's either that or the Apocalypse. And didn't God choose Cas to save everyone?  
  
Jimmy doesn't think that's how it happened, but he's given up trying to argue. Nothing he can say is going to convince his angel that 'God' didn't choose them for anything because things that don't exist can't make choices. So he doesn't say anything. Castiel takes the souls, and with them gets a leg up in his fight with Raphael. Unfortunately, he  _also_  starts a civil war, even though Jimmy tried to warn him against it. He's taking this sibling-rivalry thing way too far.  
  
  
  
The next time they see the Winchesters, Sam loses his shit about having prayed for Cas to show up for the past year, and does an impression of Castiel's voice, which Jimmy thinks is pretty hilarious. Cas seems mostly unfazed; Jimmy isn't sure that he actually knows what's going on. Sam asks if Cas is fonder of Dean, if that's what it is. Castiel says that he has a deeper bond with Dean than Sam, but that he wasn't going to bring it up. Sam scowls at him for that.  
  
Dean interrupts before they can get into a fight and says that Sam took one for the team, and now he's back and they don't know why. He says that the least Cas could do is give them five minutes and a few answers. Castiel says he doesn't have any answers, or he would have given them to the boys. Dean tries to tell Cas that he has to show up if Sam calls, but Castiel gives him a look that shuts him up.  
  
He says that he didn't find them because Dean asked him to come. The deaths the brothers are investigating, they were from the Staff of Moses. A bunch of weapons have been stolen in the wake of the Apocalypse, and the angels need to find them. Cas looks at Sam and Dean and asks for their help. They scoff and act like it's some huge problem for Cas to suggest that they should help him.  
  
Castiel looks at them and says, "My 'people skills' are a bit 'rusty'. Pardon me, but I have spent the past 'year' as a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. Believe me; you do  _not_  want that weapon down here." He does air quotes and everything. Jimmy is  _so_  proud. His angel is beginning to grasp sarcasm.  
  
They find a boy who has a piece of the staff and says that he sold his soul—to an angel—for it. Jimmy wants to shake the stupid out of the boy: Why would you sell your soul for a shit piece of wood that might not even do what it says on the box? That's the stupidest thing he's ever heard in his life. And how do you sell your soul to an angel anyway? Soul-buying, isn't that demon trade? He wonders if this kid's parental figures have taught him anything; he knows Claire would never do something so ridiculous. He and Amelia taught her better than that. But then, he guesses, he and Amelia did argue about whether to raise Claire in be religion, and even though Amelia won that one, Jimmy did his best to keep any of the weirder ideas from taking root. Maybe religion is the problem.  
  
Dean shouts at Cas something about torturing a kid, and it pulls Jimmy out of his thoughts. Cas tells Dean he doesn't have the luxury of caring about what he has to do. Jimmy is about to ask what the hell is going on when Castiel tells the Winchesters that the angel they're looking for is Balthazar. They're still trying to figure out what Balthazar's game is when another angel attacks Cas out of nowhere. Cas and the mystery angel fight and go through a window, and somewhere in all of that, Sam's car gets smashed.  
  
Castiel goes back up to the brothers' room after the angel disappears. He tells the brothers that the angel, a soldier for Raphael, is gone. Dean and Sam don't get what the problem is. Castiel tells them that Raphael wants to take over Heaven, and he's got a number of followers who want that too. Castiel, though, and a bunch of other angels,  _don't_  want that. Jimmy tells Cas that sounds a bit like the civil war that his angel just started, and Sam says more or less the same thing.  
  
Cas gets some myrrh and takes some of Dean's blood to find out where Balthazar is. Dean asks why Castiel can't use his own blood, and Cas says, "It won't work. I'm not human." Jimmy asks Cas what that means. Is his body Castiel's now? How is he not human now, when he was before this whole thing got started? He can't get an answer.  
  
They find Balthazar, and Cas goes in ahead of the brothers to speak with him. Balthazar makes an awful "frog in your throat" joke, and Castiel tells him that even  _he_  knows that's bad. Jimmy quietly applauds him again. Jimmy thinks that Balthazar is okay, minus the horrible joke, mostly because he's a bit more of a realist than Cas sometimes is. And he agrees that Cas has a stick up his arse.  
  
And then Raphael shows up again. Jimmy hates Raphael even more than he hated Uriel, and he honestly didn't think that was possible. Raphael beats Cas up, and Balthazar comes back and gets rid of his vessel. Why does Castiel insist on arguing with all of his brothers? Jimmy doesn't understand, but then, he never had any brothers—or sisters—to fight with—and he's noticing that angels seem to enjoy making big fucking deals out of the tiniest of things.  
  
  
Somehow, Sam and Dean have met up with their grandfather and are working with him and a motley crew of other supposed family members to hunt demons. Jimmy's surprised with this news, but he can't be too bothered to worry about it right now. It takes him a while to make the connection between Crowley mentioning a man called Samuel Campbell and the Winchesters' grandfather. Dean says there might be a holy weapon in town, which is extraordinarily relevant to Castiel's current interests.  
  
Dean is extremely irritated and asks why Cas hasn't come sooner because he's been calling for him for days. He's staring at Cas in a way that Jimmy thinks is suggestive of something else, though. Castiel says he can't tell them anything about Sam, so that's not why he came. He pours Dean another drink and assures him that Sam isn't Lucifer. Dean asks what's going on with his brother, and Castiel apologetically says he doesn't know. Dean asks what happened to Cas and says that he "used to be human, or at least like one". Cas is understandably confused, and so is Jimmy: What is Dean even talking about? Cas has never been particularly human, in Jimmy's opinion.  
  
Castiel reminds Dean that the angels are having a civil war, and he has to do things he normally wouldn't. Dean asks about the horn, and Castiel goes to look for it. He's back in about an instant to tell Dean that Gabriel's horn isn't here, and Dean gets snippy with him for a moment before Cas says that he'll ask around, see what he can find out.  
  
  
Dean calls for Cas to come see what's wrong with Sam. Castiel shows up and the first thing he mentions is that Sam looks like shit. Castiel asks Sam some questions, if he's feverish or sleeping, and they discover that Sam is apparently not having any feelings. Castiel advises Sam to mentally go to a happy place and puts his hand in Sam's chest. Dean asks if Cas found anything, and then if it's good that he didn't.  
  
Cas tells them that Sam's soul is missing. Jimmy thinks that it's pretty irresponsible of the moose to not keep up with it. He can't remember the lessons from when he went to Sunday school as a kid, and he hasn't bothered to open up a Bible since he was about twelve. Even when he and Amelia were planning their wedding, he avoided as much religion for that as he could.  
  
But he's pretty sure you're supposed to be really careful with your soul. Isn't it your ticket into Heaven or something like that? Of course, that's given you even believe that stuff.  
  
Then again, he wasn't really paying attention when Sam went into the cage with Michael and those rings and whatever, so maybe that was a thing he had to do. Maybe he couldn't bring his soul back. And at least Sam didn't sell his soul, right? Not like Dean. Dean, so co-dependent on his brother and on Castiel, sold his soul to bring his brother back. And he only got a year for it.  
  
Now,  _that's_  irresponsible, Jimmy thinks. Surely Dean could have negotiated his way into something better than one measly little year.  
  
Jimmy has lost count of the number of times those two have died. One thing's for sure, and it is that this number is too many. Once is enough.  
  
  
Castiel heals Sam's jerk-inflicted injuries, and they all go to ask Samuel Campbell about his return from the dead. Jimmy thinks the Winchesters and their family are starting to turn into 'Night of the Living Dead'. Castiel tells Jimmy he doesn't understand, and Jimmy tells him that one day, they're going to have a zombie film marathon. Samuel makes a crack about Castiel looking scraggy, and Castiel says that his true form is huge. Jimmy wishes everybody would stop thinking he's just a little nerdy dude: it's getting old. Castiel tests Samuel to see if he has a soul, and then he tells Dean he'll keep looking to see what he can find out about getting Sam's soul back. But he's in the middle of the war, so he has to go.  
  
  
  
Jimmy is lost in thought one day after the boys hook up with their grandfather to hunt demons and other beasties – and, coincidentally, are working for Crowley. Jimmy thinks it is complete bullshit that the Winchesters are working with a demon now – and not just any demon, but the brand-new King of Hell himself – after they've spent so many years hunting them. So he's taken up playing mental games with himself as a hobby. It keeps him from getting too annoyed.  
  
He comes back to earth just in time for Castiel to come to Sam because of some shit about the "Ark of the Covenant". Jimmy tries to tell Cas that it's just another one of the Winchesters' stupid pop culture references, but Cas ignores him and shows up anyway. And, of course, Jimmy is right, and Castiel gets mocked.  
  
They want help finding Crowley. Again. Cas tries to tell them that  _he's in the middle of a fucking war_ , and Sam threatens death. Jimmy says, "You need  _help_ ," and for the third time, his words actually come out of Castiel's mouth. He still doesn't understand how or why it happens, or if it's something they can even control. It seems to be when Jimmy is sarcastic, but that's not a guarantee of it because Jimmy is sarcastic a  _lot_.  
  
Dean says he owes Sam dinner because Castiel actually came. Castiel finally agrees to do a spell to find Crowley, but it doesn't work. They go to Samuel Campbell's office to search for a clue to Crowley's location, but Campbell shows up before they find anything. Castiel gives them some privacy for the moose and the jerk to have a little conversation with their grandfather.  
  
  
Castiel is watching porn. Well, this is just fucking great. Jimmy never watched that much porn before, and he's never, ever wanted to watch it with other people. Especially not people sharing his body. And then he just  _has_  to say something about it. Jimmy is confused for a moment because Cas is trying to figure out the—the  _plot_  of the porn. He calls it "complex". Jimmy could laugh out loud. Before Jimmy can tell Cas that he should change the channel or just shut up, Cas has already opened their mouth.  
  
This isn't going to get any better, is it? At least Jimmy is saved the trouble of shouting at Castiel in their shared headspace. Dean asks why Cas is watching porn. Castiel says that it was there. Dean makes his classic annoyed face—as Jimmy has come to call it—and snaps at them, "You  _don't_  watch porn in a room full of dudes. And you don't... talk about it!" Jimmy thinks that settles it. And then it gets even worse. Castiel looks down at their lap. Jimmy has been in and out for enough of the day that he's not sure what's going on until Dean says, "Oh, great, now he's got a boner."  
  
Jimmy is going to  _have_  to talk to Castiel about boundaries. Again. It's okay to get an erection when they're in the shower, or when they're by themselves and Castiel sometimes lets Jimmy's hands wander. It's not okay to watch porn and pop a woody in the company of the Winchesters. Or anyone else, for that matter.  
  
If he's totally honest with himself, Jimmy is a little jealous about it. He keeps these thoughts and feelings buried deep as he can because he really doesn't want Cas to know. The last thing they need is for Castiel to ask Sam or Dean anything concerning feelings. Jimmy might secretly have it bad for Cas, but as far as he can tell, Cas doesn't share that feeling.  
  
Campbell shows up and asks if this is Sam and Dean's new hobby, watching porn with angels. Cas, without missing a beat, says, "I'm not supposed to talk about it." While it certainly isn't the best answer, it  _is_  probably the most hilarious one. Campbell gives the brothers Crowley's location, and they all meet up with Meg to go after him.  
  
Meg looks Cas up and down like she likes what she sees, and Jimmy sort of wants to throw up a little. He's never really noticed what demons look like before, and he wishes that he could have kept on being oblivious. Castiel doesn't want to work with the demons, but they don't have another option. While they're preparing for their mission, Castiel tells Dean that he's not sure he wants to do this. Sam may not survive, and that's one of the best-case scenarios. Dean insists that getting Sam's soul back is the best option, and they'll figure out what to do, damn the consequences. Cas still isn't quite convinced.  
  
They get into Crowley's compound with much more ease than Jimmy thought they would have. Shouldn't the King of Hell be a little tighter with his security? That's a thing, right? Oh, wait: Hellhounds. Well, that's clever. Meg tries to escape, but she can't leave her meat suit. Apparently Crowley's got some spells to keep everyone in their bodies. Jimmy idly wonders if that means that Crowley is stuck in his body, too.  
  
And then Meg kisses Castiel, reaching in his coat. Jimmy starts getting that vomit-y feeling again, and then Cas kisses her back! With tongue, and his hands in her hair, and this is just  _so unfair_ , why can't Jimmy have his own body back? He's not sure that Cas would even want to kiss him like that. She asks what that was, and Cas answers, "I learned it from the pizza man."  
  
Meg gets Castiel's angel sword and sends the rest of them on their way to Crowley. She's going to try to hold off the hellhounds. That doesn't sound like it's going to work out for anyone. Sam and Dean and Cas continue on their way until Campbell banishes Cas.  
  
Jimmy tells Cas that they've been angel-banished way the hell too many times. They've been blown apart, banished, shot, stabbed. He just wants to know when enough is enough.  
  
Castiel stops and picks up Crowley's bones on the way back to save the day. When they get back to Crowley's hideout, he's just gotten out of a devil's trap. Crowley mocks Castiel for a while, and then asks what he's got in his bag. Cas says that Crowley sucks at hiding his important bits and asks if Crowley can actually get Sam's soul back. When Crowley concedes that he can't, Castiel sets the bag of bones on fire.  
  
Jimmy is impressed. Again, or maybe still. He's not sure which it is. Meg vanishes as soon as Crowley is gone. Dean says he would've killed Meg, too, but that he'd have given Cas some alone time with her. Castiel doesn't understand and asks why he would want that. Jimmy doesn't bother trying to explain sexual attraction this time. It will inevitably lead to awkward questions that he's not ready to answer, like,  _is that why you shy away from acknowledging some of your thoughts to me?_  
  
After they've cleaned up the mess – well, after they've taken care of the rest of the monsters from Crowley's hideout – Castiel confesses that he's losing the battle with Raphael. He would rather be with the Winchesters instead of fighting this war he's never going to win. The brothers aren't very good at pep talks. Jimmy figures this is probably the tenth time or so that one or both of them have attempted to raise Castiel's mood and utterly failed.  
  
  
Sam gets his soul back. Dean asks how Sam is, and Cas says that he's not sure. He also says that he warned Dean to not get Sam's soul returned, and that the soul feels like it's been skinned. Jimmy still posits that they should've gotten Sam's soul out of the cage from the start, or—even better idea—they should have not let him go into the cage in the first place, and then they wouldn't be dealing with these problems.  
  
Sam asks Cas to come down, and Cas does. He says a bit about it being good to see Sam alive, and Jimmy thinks that it's not right to lie to the moose. Castiel tells him to shut up and tries to go in for a hug with Sam, but Sam looks at him weirdly, and Cas surmises that hugging would be awkward.  
  
Sam says that he talked to Bobby, who told him everything, and Castiel believes it. Jimmy tries to tell Cas that he smells bullshit, but it doesn't work. Castiel mentions that it's shocking that Sam made it and that he implored Dean not to do it. Sam says it's understandable, and Cas asks how it feels. Sam is confused, and Cas clarifies, "To have your soul back, of course." For a moment surprise flickers across Sam's face, and Cas asks Jimmy if he shouldn't have said anything about Sam's soul to him. Jimmy tells him it was probably a bad idea, but since he's already said it, he might as well answer Sam's questions.  
  
So Castiel does. He warns Jimmy that he'll put any blame for it squarely on Jimmy, since this whole question-answering thing is his vessel's idea.  
  
  
Castiel is trying to do too much, helping the brothers clean things up on Earth while still fighting the war in heaven. Jimmy thinks his angel is intentionally spreading himself too thin, so he'll have an excuse when he fails. He can't blame Cas; he's done the same thing once or twice before. It's just so convenient, and no one ever faults somebody for trying to do too much. That doesn't stop him from trying to slow Cas down.  
  
They've been taking care of some business in Heaven, and Castiel gets all strong and demanding at some of the angels. It makes Jimmy's heart flutter. All he knows is that there's some altercation happening between Balthazar and Raphael—big surprise—and that Cas isn't happy about it. He doesn't even care what's happening: Cas's extra-growly voice does things to Jimmy. He wants to throw Cas down and do all sort of things to him.  
  
  
Castiel hears through the grapevine that Balthazar described him to the Winchesters as being "in love with" them. Jimmy bristles at that and demands to know if it's true. Cas denies it, but there is an inkling of doubt in his thoughts. He waffles for a moment and then says yes, he's kind of attracted to Dean—but not as much as he is to Jimmy. Isn't that worth something?  
  
Their little misunderstanding is cut short when Castiel has to go pull the boys out of some mess they've found themselves in. Jimmy mutters something about always going after the Winchester brothers, and Castiel asks if this can wait until later. Finally, Jimmy relents and lets Castiel save the day—again.  
  
Once they're all safely away from the fire, Dean asks if Cas knows what Balthazar did. Castiel tells them he did and that Balthazar is a bit of a brat. Dean asks why Atropos is trying to eliminate him and Sam if she's only going after the people who shouldn't exist because the Titanic was supposed to sink. Jimmy thinks,  _well, that answer's pretty obvious, idiot_ , and Cas is much more diplomatic and suggests that she's upset with them. They ask why, and he says because they stopped the Apocalypse and kind of downsized her, and now they're kind of rubbing that in her face.  
  
He also lets them know that she's not going to stop trying to kill them until she succeeds—well, unless they kill her first. The brothers seem unsure about this, and Cas asks if they have a better idea. Unsurprisingly, they don't. Sam wants to know if it's even possible to kill Fate, and Castiel says that Balthazar has a weapon that will do it. He even uses the phrase "tempting fate" in his pitch, and Jimmy tells Cas he's never allowed to make a pun again.  
  
Castiel finds the brothers when Atropos attacks them again. He tries to make nice, but she won't have any of it. She rants and raves that she was really good at her job, and Castiel regretfully informs her that she's expendable. Atropos says that she's been quiet, but she can't tolerate that they stopped the Titanic from sinking. Cas tries to say that it was Balthazar, but Atropos calls him out on that being bullshit because they created a host of new souls.  
  
She tells him that he either has to sink the Titanic or she'll kill the Winchesters. It may not be now, and she might die over it, but she's the baby sister, and the other two Fates will come for revenge. And since Castiel is fighting a war in Heaven, he can't keep an eye on the brothers every second of the day. He finally agrees and tells Balthazar to not kill Atropos, as the plan had been. Balthazar begrudgingly goes back and lets the Titanic sink, like it was supposed to in the first place.  
  
The brothers wake up in their Impala—damn, Jimmy loves that car—and they think that what just happened was a dream. Cas tells them it wasn't, and that the 50,000 souls that had been 'created'... well, they just don't exist. Dean asks if that means that the entire timeline they were in doesn't exist, and if so, why do they remember it?  
  
Cas tells them that he wanted them to remember. Dean asks if Balthazar  _really_  stopped the Titanic from sinking because of the stupid film. Jimmy laughs and laughs, and asks Cas if he's going to tell the truth. Castiel tells the boys that Balthazar definitely un-did the events of the Titanic because of the film.  
  
Jimmy asks Castiel why he keeps lying to the moose and the jerk. It's not very nice.  
  
  
For some reason, Castiel's subordinates are acting strangely. He has to send Rachel home after she tries to tell the brothers to stop calling on Cas. She tells him she said she'd take care of it, but he doesn't put up with it. Jimmy applauds him. Rachel turns out to be Castiel's lieutenant, which Jimmy guesses is nice, but he questions her motives. Then again, he questions everybody's motives lately, so he's not sure if that's worth anything or not.  
  
Cas seems more despondent than usual. Jimmy isn't sure why, but he thinks it's because of the war. Watching your family fight and kill each other has to be awful. Jimmy doesn't have any siblings, so he doesn't know for certain about that. What he is sure of is that he hated the fights he had with Amelia, and fights between angels have got to be worse. God being missing or, more likely, non-existent isn't helping one bit. All he wants is for Castiel to be happy again, and he doesn't know how to accomplish that. Until he figures it out, he's sticking with being supportive.  
  
Jimmy laughs as Sam and Dean argue about Dean's alleged fetish for 'wild west' films and clothes. Dean even got entire outfits for them to wear. It's kind of cute, in a really creepy way. Cas makes it even better when he asks if it's traditional to wear a blanket. Dean laughs at him and tells him that it's a serape, thankyouverymuch. Jimmy wants to tell Dean that no, that's definitely a blanket, but he keeps quiet and pretends he's not saying anything because he's nice. Cas tells them they can only be gone for 24 hours, or they may not be able to come back.  
  
He sends the brothers back in time to hunt down the Colt. While they're gone, Rachel summons Cas for a talk. She says there are rumours going around and something about a "dirty little secret"—and that phrase is way overused. If a pop punk band turns a phrase into a hit single, that phrase needs to be retired from the language. Castiel tells Jimmy that he's trying to have a serious conversation, but he will be happy to continue this later.  
  
Cas tells Rachel that they have to beat Raphael. She acts like the angels following Cas have been sorely misled, and then she stabs him. Jimmy asks Cas if people are ever going to stop stabbing them because he's sick of it. Castiel says he's not so sure that's ever going to happen.  
  
They fight because apparently all Cas does is throw down with angels these days, and in the fray, he kills Rachel. He apologises for it, and then takes them to Bobby's. He draws a sigil in Jimmy's blood on the refrigerator. Bobby asks what the hell happened, and then if they're running or fighting. Cas tries to answer, but collapses onto Bobby before he gets more than a word out.  
  
  
The next thing he knows, Bobby is telling him he looks like shit and asking what went down. Cas sits up and looks around, disoriented for a moment, and says that he was betrayed. Raphael corrupted Rachel, and she tried to kill Cas. He got her in the end, but he had to protect himself from any other angels who might want to come after him. He's too weak to bring the brothers back, though.  
  
Bobby tells him he has to find someone else who can; he has to do  _something_  to get them back. He asks if there's a spell or anything that'll let Cas bring them back. Castiel says there's one thing, but it's quite risky. Bobby says what else is new and asks what it is. When Cas tells Bobby that it's his soul, Bobby asks half-sarcastically if he needs to make another deal and seal it with a kiss.  
  
Castiel says, "I need you to let me touch it." Wow, that doesn't sound creepy  _at all_. Jimmy tells Cas that he's amazed at how not-creepy that sounds. Cas tells him to pipe down with the sarcasm because they have enough to deal with right now.  
  
Bobby doesn't sound very excited by that idea. Cas explains that souls are energy—Jimmy thinks of an arc reactor, like Iron Man—and if he can use some of the energy, he can bring the boys back. But he has to be extraordinarily careful, or Bobby could explode. For a moment, Jimmy doesn't think Bobby is actually going to do it, but then Bobby says okay.  
  
Before Castiel reaches into Bobby's soul, he asks again if Bobby is certain. Bobby tells him to get on with it, already. Cas does, and Jimmy can tell that it's pretty terrible because Bobby screams even through the belt he's biting. But the soul-touching works, and Sam and Dean get back—right before they fill the jar they have. Dean tries to get Cas to send them back, but Cas adamantly refuses.  
  
There's a knock on the door, and it turns out to be a box from none other than Samuel Colt. Jimmy doesn't believe it, but there's a note and Sam's blackberry and a jar full of what looks like ashes. Sam reads the note and—oh, it  _is_  ashes. Jimmy isn't sure why they need a jar of phoenix ashes, but he's not about to ask, lest Castiel lecture him about paying attention to the important things.  
  
How did he go from 'I just want you to be happy' to 'Oh, great, another thing to fight about' in a day? Maybe that's what getting stabbed by a holy implement whose primary use is for killing angels does to your relationship. Jimmy wishes he could have at least gotten a little more of the honeymoon phase before getting sucked straight back to old married couple. Not that they're actually even a couple, he has to remind himself. Not that it would ever work on principle because an atheist and an angel? It's hard to get much further apart than that.  
  
  
Cas appears right behind Dean just as Dean says, "It's not like Cas lives in my ass." Sam and Dean raise their eyebrows at him, and he turns and jumps. "Get out of my ass, Cas!" Castiel starts to say he's never been there but stops himself because Dean looks him up and down. Why is Dean giving Cas that, "I'd hit that like the fist of an angry god" look? And why does Jimmy's face feel like Cas is considering that as an offer?  
  
It takes a moment, but Castiel asks if they've found Eve yet. Jimmy asks Cas who Eve is and why they're looking for her. Castiel explains that she's the mother of all monsters. He doesn't say anything about why they're looking for her, though.  
  
Bobby and the Winchesters discuss finding a 'friendly' monster. Jimmy doesn't know if those actually exist. But then, he supposes he doesn't exactly fit the mould of what people expect of atheists, so friendly monsters must be possible.  
  
Castiel brings back a vampire called Lenore. Sam and Dean seem to know her. She says she remembers them—and their "hunter friend" who tried to kill her. Sam says that he killed that 'friend' after he turned into a vampire, and they introduce Cas. Lenore says that she has no comment on Eve.  
  
Lenore's nest is gone. Eve has been telling them to feed on people, and she is really convincing. The vampires in her nest left because they couldn't resist the urge. Lenore says she's been hiding in a basement. When Dean asks if she knows where Eve is, Lenore laughs and laughs and asks if he's lost his mind.  
  
Finally, she relents and tells them where Eve is—and that Eve knows they're coming now. She tells them she needs a favour: for them to kill her. The brothers are unwilling at first, but Lenore insists. She can't resist Eve's voice in her head any more. While she's trying to convince the brothers, Castiel steps in and burns her up.  
  
Then he transports them all to Grants Pass, Oregon. Castiel looks around, and Dean makes a crack about Zombieland and Pleasantville. Jimmy isn't sure what Zombieland is, but it has to be some kind of film, given the other reference. Bobby says something about if Eve knows they're coming, she's probably got surprises for them. Dean calls Cas "Smitey McSmiterton", which is the weirdest thing Jimmy can ever remember Cas getting called.  
  
Sam and Bobby argue about whether or not a tablet is a computer at the diner they find, and Cas says he'll take a look around. But he can't go anywhere. Dean calls him on it, Cas tries again, and Dean makes fun of him for looking like he's pooping. Jimmy doesn't want to know what kind of shits Dean is having if he has to concentrate on it. The whole thing is disgusting to even consider.  
  
Castiel tells them that something is blocking him—he doesn't have any of his powers. Dean calls him a "baby in a trench coat", that jerk. Castiel doesn't quite understand why Dean would say that, but he's upset. Bobby does find something, though, and after he explains what's going on, they decide to split into pairs to have a search.  
  
Dean and Cas go around, and find the doctor's office. Dean tells the lady who's locking up that his friend—Cas—is sick, and Cas says the first symptom he can think of. The lady apologises but insists that the doctor isn't available. That's really weird, so once she leaves, they go around back to break into the office. Castiel tells Jimmy that he should learn how to pick a lock. Jimmy informs Cas that he already knows how.  
  
Then they find the dead guy. It's the same guy that Bobby found the picture of. Dean asks a question about the doctor, and Castiel says that he doesn't understand what's happening. They hunt down some kerosene and light up the dead guy, and then go to meet up with Sam and Bobby at the dead guy's house.  
  
Wait a minute; is that the dead guy in the window? What's going on here? Cas asks if the dead guy had a brother, and Sam says no. How did none of the hunters notice the clone of the dead guy standing at the window? Sam says that he and Dean are going in, and Cas and Bobby can shoot anything that comes out of the building. Castiel points out that he doesn't have much experience with guns, and Dean makes another crack about babies.  
  
Dean is such a jerk sometimes. Jimmy doesn't understand why Cas would be interested in sleeping with the guy. Well, aside from that mouth. Jimmy can't honestly say he hasn't had a few fantasies about Dean putting those pouty lips to better use.  
  
He loses track of what they're discussing, and then they're at some bar full of dead people. Well, this bodes well. Dean finds a body that's a combination of a vampire and a wraith, and Bobby tells him that since he found it, he names it. Dean calls them 'Jefferson Starships' because, quote, "they're horrible and they never die". Jimmy concedes that that's fair.  
  
The cops show up before they get much else done. Jimmy sees Dean slip behind the bar to hide while Cas tries to tell the cops that this isn't as it seems and Bobby tries to tell them that they're federal agents. Dean is the only one who escapes getting dragged off to the station. Handcuffs confuse Castiel. He recognises their professional use, but he's strangely aroused by the thought of their use in other settings. Jimmy files that thought away for later.  
  
The cops turn out to be, uh, Starships, and Dean beheads one of them who's about to bite Cas. Cas gets out of his handcuffs and prepares to kill another Starship, but Sam stops them from killing the third one so they can question it—him—Jimmy isn't sure. Much like angels, he doesn't know if monsters have genders or what they would even be.  
  
They question the Starship but don't get anywhere. There are two children who were in one of the holding cells. Dean and Sam are asking them some questions. Castiel waits for a lull to ask Dean for a moment and tells him they need to find Eve as soon as possible. Dean tells Cas to calm his tits because he wants to take care of these kids. Bobby and Cas can go ahead.  
  
Castiel watches the brothers and the kids leave and stays at the window for a long time after they've gone. Bobby tries to calm him down, and Castiel uses sarcasm remarkably successfully—at least, Jimmy thinks so. Bobby doesn't catch it, and Castiel has to  _explain_  that he was trying to use sarcasm to point out the Winchesters' issues.  
  
  
Jimmy does not want to know how Cas got this address. It's the diner they went to when they first arrived in town. Dean and Sam go in first. Jimmy really has to question their intelligence, especially when the people in the diner start pulling the blinds. He really wants to know what he's missing. Cas tells him to stop being so nosy.  
  
Eve's little monsters capture Dean and Cas and herd them into the diner. With a sneer, Eve tells Castiel that she knows how angels work because she's older than him. Jimmy barely stops himself from asking,  _Do you people have to turn everything into a pissing contest?_  
  
Eve, bless her heart—so to speak—tries to make them an offer of employment. Dean adamantly refuses, saying that there's nothing that would make him say yes. He tells Eve to bite him, and she does. Jimmy is expecting something horrible to happen, but then it happens to Eve and not Dean. He's impressed; he never would have thought of taking a shot of whiskey and phoenix ash. It sounds like it would be terrible.  
  
Castiel kills all of the monsters as soon as Eve is dead. Bobby says he should join them for hunts more often, and Dean asks if he can take care of the whole neck-bite thing. After Cas does, they find out that the littlest kid was one of the new monster prototypes... whatever they are. Cas gets them to the house to stop this last monster, but they're too late. Oh, and demons have already done it for them.  
  
Sam asks Dean if he thinks that Eve was honest, and Cas asks about what. Dean says that she said that Crowley is still alive and torturing alphas for kicks. Jimmy is confused: Hadn't Cas burned Crowley's bones? Dean says that Crowley is wily, and Castiel says he will get right on finding out about that.  
  
  
Castiel goes back to the diner where all of the dead monsters are, and Jimmy vaguely recognises the song the jukebox switches over to. He's pretty sure he hates Jefferson Starship now more than he did before this whole thing happened. Crowley shows up and asks how long he's going to have to clean up after Cas. Jimmy screams at Cas, wants to know why in the  _hell_  he's still working with Crowley.  
  
  
After Castiel and Jimmy have settled their argument, Cas checks in on Dean. Dean asks if he's found anything out about Crowley. Castiel says he's looking, but he doesn't understand how Crowley could have tricked him. Jimmy tells Cas he shouldn't be lying to Dean; Cas, as he has been lately, pretends he didn't hear Jimmy say a word and tells Dean that he will come and assist them, if possible. Dean shrugs it off but says to call if they get into "real trouble"—whatever that's supposed to mean.  
  
Dean asks Cas to not leave yet and pulls off the road in a well-concealed area. Jimmy tells Cas to wait and see what this new plan is. He's pretty sure  _he_  knows, and he's not as dead-set against it as he thought he would be, but he's not sure  _Cas_  knows. Castiel asks him why, and Jimmy says that he's seen them giving each other 'do-me' looks for long enough. Before Cas can ask Jimmy to elaborate, Dean lunges across the seat and kisses him, needy and insistent.  
  
In the split-second between being kissed and kissing back, Castiel realises what Jimmy means by 'do-me looks'. He twists his fingers into Dean's hair and pulls gently, just enough to get attention. Dean asks if there's something wrong, and Castiel cautiously says that Jimmy is aware of this. Dean shrugs and asks if Jimmy has a  _problem_  with it. Jimmy tells Cas that he's been watching them eye-fucking each other for weeks, and it's about time they do something about it.  
  
Castiel relays a much-shorter version of what Jimmy said, and that seems to be enough. Dean sheds his jacket and tells Cas to lose the coat, then pulls him in by the tie and kisses him again. The steering wheel gets in the way, and Dean growls at Cas to get in the back. Cas starts for the door, but Dean tells him to just go over the seat because he doesn't have the patience to keep waiting.  
  
As soon as they make it to the backseat, they're tearing at each other's clothes again. Jimmy wonders how much porn Castiel has watched when he wasn't paying attention. Cas has a pretty damn good idea of what he's doing, especially considering how much room there isn't. Dean wedges one leg in between Castiel's and pulls his own shirt off. Cas runs his hands down Dean's chest and experimentally tweaks one of his nipples.  
  
Dean growls and bites at Castiel's neck, muttering something about not having  _time_  for that. Cas digs his fingers into Dean's sides and whines softly in his ear. He's wearing too many clothes, but he's not quite sure what to do about that.  
  
Castiel fumbles around just long enough to successfully unfasten Dean's jeans, and he sends them off… somewhere. He's not quite sure where they ended up. Dean looks down and back up at Cas and starts to ask what just happened. Cas leans up and kisses him again, then murmurs that Dean didn't have time for that, in case he'd forgotten.  
  
Dean makes quick work of the suit. Jimmy is glad that he doesn't tear it into pieces; it's the most expensive set of clothes Jimmy's ever owned, and he doesn't really want to have to buy another one. Jimmy doesn't get to think too much further and ruin the moment for Cas, though. Dean puts his mouth to better use, and Jimmy gets to see what those pouty lips look like wrapped around his cock. For the record, he's sure that's what Dean's mouth is made for.  
  
Castiel doesn't get to enjoy it for long. As soon as Dean thinks he's done enough preparation, he pulls off of Cas's dick. Cas opens his mouth, but his protest dies on his lips. Dean takes him slowly, at first, but Castiel's proclivity for a hint of pain pushes him to want more. They're both bruised when Dean finally shifts his weight off of Cas and says something that is half apology and half... something else entirely. He asks what happened to his jeans, but then says it doesn't really matter.  
  
But they both have work to do, so maybe they should think about doing that. Dean tells Castiel that it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to see Cas, but they do have pressing tasks at hand. Cas just quietly agrees, puts his suit back on, and leaves.  
  
Later, he asks Jimmy what that means. Jimmy tells him that Dean isn't worth worrying over.  
  
  
Cas goes to Crowley to ask about progress with Eve. All Jimmy gathers from that conversation is that the King of Hell has an electrocution fetish. An argument breaks out over whether or not Eve should still be alive, and if they're each holding up their end of the bargain. Crowley crowds into Jimmy's personal space and sniffs at him, declaring that he can smell the Winchesters all over Castiel. His posture and tone carry a mild either possessive or jealous note—Jimmy can't tell the difference any more.  
  
Crowley says he thinks Castiel has a conflict of interest. Castiel will never admit it, but Crowley is right. Dean, Sam, and Bobby are Cas's friends, near as he has any. The boys have taught him so much, and they probably don't even know it. He can't just betray them outright. He'll find a way to make it up to the brothers. He's not about to kill them, no matter how much Crowley asks or begs him to.  
  
All he has to do is keep the Winchesters from finding Crowley. It's Crowley's job to find Purgatory. As long as they stick to their agreed-upon roles, there shouldn't be a problem. Right?  
  
  
Castiel peers in on the brothers and Bobby, hiding so they won't know he's listening. They're talking about Cas; Dean calls him the "Balki Bartokomous of angels" and says that he's allowed to make a mistake. He asks Bobby if they really think Cas is in with Crowley. Bobby says he doesn't know, and Sam agrees. Jimmy tells Cas that he totally called this.  
  
Then Bobby says something about "Superman gone dark side" and that they need to be circumspect and sharp, and maybe they need to stock up on some kryptonite. Dean says that that makes Sam Lois Lane, which confuses Jimmy: If Castiel is Superman, then shouldn't  _Dean_  be Lois Lane, not Sam? Whatever.  
  
It hurts that they suspect Castiel already, but he's even more hurt on Dean's behalf. Dean tries so hard to be loyal, even if his instincts are telling him not to. Jimmy wonders if that has anything to do with the fact that not three days ago, they slept together.  
  
They're off to find the demonic equivalent of Bobby, a guy called Ellsworth. Castiel finds him first and kills two demons that are bringing report, and then kills Ellsworth when he tries to escape. Jimmy asks Cas if that was totally necessary. Cas says yes, that he doesn't have a choice, that he has to protect the brothers. Jimmy isn't convinced; he wonders if Cas isn't just trying to protect himself. Castiel says he doesn't know anymore.  
  
Castiel hides just before Bobby and the Winchesters come into Ellsworth's house. They're confused because the demons are gone and the house is spotless. Sam suggests that perhaps demons run from them now, that it's a nice thought. Guilt overwhelms Cas for a moment — for all of the deception, for his motives being tainted, for everything. Jimmy tells Castiel that he needs to get a handle on the shame.  
  
The hunters are discussing how clean the place is and whether or not to call Cas. Jimmy thinks it's so adorable when Dean sticks up for Cas and asks if they shouldn't give him the benefit of the doubt. Both of the brothers try to call Cas, but he doesn't come. They'll ask him questions he won't be able to answer. He knows they will, and he is afraid of facing it.  
  
Jimmy can't tell Castiel to grow up. How could he? Castiel is older than the Earth, and he's seen so many disasters occur and so many people come and go. He's been through things that Jimmy can't even begin to imagine. He's one of the wisest people Jimmy has ever known, yet the Winchesters and Bobby Singer turn him reckless. There's a large piece of Jimmy that wonders if Cas isn't particularly stupid about Dean, and why that might be. He has a few guesses but no solid evidence.  
  
Demons attack the brothers before Jimmy can postulate further. Castiel has a moment of debate before he springs into action. He can upset Crowley and kill the demons, but Bobby and the Winchesters are his friends—and probably the only ones he's ever going to have again. So he smites the demons, Crowley be damned. No pun intended. For a moment, he feels like himself again.  
  
Dean looks at Bobby and asks what he thinks about Cas saving their asses again. Bobby, appropriately ashamed, says he owes Cas an apology. They explain that they've been hunting Crowley this whole time but hiding it from Castiel because they thought he was working with the King of Hell. Castiel says they could have just asked, and he would have told them. Jimmy asks Cas if he would have told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth—or if he would have told them a bent version of it. Castiel doesn't answer him. Dean says they should have asked, that they shouldn't have suspected him. And could he forgive them?  
  
Castiel looks at them and says it's forgotten. He's lying again, but the Winchesters trust him again—at least, for now. After an awkward moment of silence, Cas says that the idea of Superman becoming evil is absurd. He's still just himself. Dean says that means they can put away the kryptonite now, and Cas agrees.  
  
Jimmy tries to sound a warning alarm and calls Cas out on the whole Superman bit. He wasn't supposed to be there when the Winchesters were talking about that! Jimmy has an inkling that Cas has been caught in his lies, but he keeps that thought to himself. He shouldn't make things more difficult than they're already going to be.  
  
They go back and argue with Crowley about his sending demons after the Winchesters. Castiel says that they're his friends, and Crowley tells him he can't have friends and that he's lost it. Cas argues that he's well, and he gets mocked for that. Crowley asks if Cas really thinks he's not aware of what's going on, and Castiel looks at him and says, "Enlighten me."  
  
Crowley tells Castiel that as long as the Winchesters believe in the honourable Castiel, so then Castiel can believe in it. It's a fine sentiment, and Crowley ruins it with something about a whore. Castiel throws Crowley into the wall and threatens to bury the demon if anything happens to the Winchesters. There's a moment where Jimmy senses a sharp attraction between his angel and the current King of Hell. He wonders if there's anyone that his angel isn't, at some point, going to have weird sexual tension with.  
  
  
Dean calls Cas in for a powwow. Castiel comes and asks how he can help. They say they have a plan to track down Crowley, and then they trap Cas in a ring of holy oil fire. He asks what's going on, and Dean tells him they need to talk about Superman and kryptonite. They ask how long he's been spying for Crowley, and why the demon house was so clean, and how Crowley could have possibly tricked him with the bones.  
  
The worst part is when Dean looks at him and says, "You gotta level with me. You gotta look me in the eye and tell me you're not working with Crowley." And Castiel can't do it. Dean calls him a son of a bitch, and he looks so hurt, and it breaks Castiel's heart. Jimmy can't say anything because what he would tell Cas is,  _I told you so_. But he knows what his angel is feeling all too well, and he doesn't think he's awful enough to kick Cas while he's down.  
  
He tries to explain. He tells them he did all of it to protect them. That he needs the souls so he can stop Raphael. He asks them to trust him, says he's still himself, he's still their friend. And he finally tells Sam that he's the one who raised him from perdition. Sam scoffs and says that Cas did a poor job of that. Then he asks if Cas brought him back soulless  _intentionally_. Cas tells them that he doesn’t understand how they could think that, and Sam says that he's thinking a lot of things.  
  
Castiel says that he didn't have a choice, that Raphael will kill everyone if he isn't stopped. Dean tells Cas that he most certainly did have a choice, and he made the wrong one. It's not as complicated as the angel thinks it is. There's no reason Cas should keep a secret like this unless he knows it's wrong. They're supposed to deal with this like they always do— _together_ , not going and making a deal with the devil. Jimmy thinks that's rich, Dean trying to lecture them on making deals.  
  
Castiel says it all sounds so simple, put that way. But where was Dean when Cas needed to hear that? Dean tells Cas he's been there the entire time, so where was Cas? Dean tries to tell Cas that they can fix it, but Cas doesn't believe it's broken.  
  
He sends them on their way just in time for Crowley to arrive. They argue again, and Crowley tells Cas that all friends ever do is hold you back. Cas tells him to stop talking, and for one terrifying moment Jimmy thinks he's going to kiss Crowley, but then he tells him to get out of his sight.  
  
Just before Crowley leaves, he poses one last thought: "You know the difference between you and me? I know what I am. What  _are_  you, Castiel? What exactly are you willing to do?" And then he's gone.  
  
  
Castiel pays Dean a visit. It seems that Bobby made an effort to angel-proof the house, but he made some mistakes. Cas just wants Dean to understand, and Dean is pretty sure he gets it: some bullshit or other about Raphael. They have a truncated argument that ends with Dean telling Cas that he's defeated some big enemies, and Cas could be next on that list.  
  
Jimmy and Castiel go back to that Tuesday afternoon Heaven that Cas likes so much. Castiel asks God if he's doing what's right. He says he's not going to ask again, but he'll do whatever he has to. He just wants to know if he made the right choice.  
  
They get no answer. Jimmy wishes he could feel anything but a complete lack of surprise.  
  
  
Castiel continues to work with Crowley to find Purgatory. Jimmy is increasingly worried that his angel is going to get double-crossed. It's one thing for Cas to make stupid decisions that alienate people when he has all the facts. It's another thing entirely for him to lose his friends because he's making choices that he thinks are helping towards a goal—one that he'll never actually reach.  
  
Crowley kidnaps Lisa and Ben. Jimmy only cares as far as it's shitty to kidnap innocent people just because they know the Winchesters. He's not the one who's emotionally attached to Dean, but he feels bad for the kid. Castiel tries to keep Crowley from letting his demons hurt either Lisa or her son, but Crowley isn't having any of that. He just tells Cas to keep looking for their way into Purgatory.  
  
Balthazar calls Castiel and grills him in concerns to whether or not he's working with Crowley. More lies, but at least Balthazar doesn't believe a word of it. He's not  _mad_  per se, more concerned that Cas is going to try to be the vessel for all of the souls if they actually do manage to open up Purgatory. He says that Cas might explode and take out a chunk of the Earth, but he's with Cas.  
  
When Cas finds Dean, it's just in time to stop a demon from killing him. Dean doesn't believe that the angel wasn't aware of Crowley's plan, and he's pissed off. Cas apologises again and asks for Dean's support. He's always done what they needed and never asked for anything. Now, when he asks for one thing, he can't get it.  
  
Jimmy tells Castiel that it'll be okay. Dean will forgive Cas, or he won't, but either way, that's how life goes. Cas shouldn't throw himself at anyone, least of all a jerk hunter who hasn't changed a bit in the four years Castiel has known him. Even getting out of hunting and spending a year with a woman he supposedly loves hasn't made a dent in what Dean is. Jimmy doesn't think there's any hope for change, now.  
  
Cas politely asks Jimmy to shove off for five minutes and goes to the hospital where Dean, Lisa, and Ben are. Dean still isn't about to forgive him, no matter how much he apologises, so he tells Dean he didn't come on the hunter's behalf. Instead, he heals Lisa, so she can go home with her son. It's not going to change anything, Dean still isn't in a forgiving mood, but he asks Cas to erase Lisa and Ben's memories of him.  
  
So Castiel does, even though he doesn't entirely understand why. Jimmy understands Dean's feelings all too well. It's the same reason he's never going to see Claire graduate, or get married, or have a family of her own. It's too dangerous for civilians to be involved with hunters. He's not sure when he stopped thinking of himself as a regular guy, but it's such a far-fetched idea now he can barely even imagine going back to life as it was before Cas.  
  
  
  
Castiel is losing his damn mind. There's no other explanation for it. He tells Dean he doesn't care about what he thinks—which, honestly, he needed to do a long time ago—and breaks the wall that Death put in Sam's head. He figures out how to double-cross Crowley for the Purgatory-opening ritual, kills Balthazar right as Jimmy starts to decide he actually likes the guy, and doesn't want to give Crowley any of the souls. And he refuses to listen to reason. Jimmy doesn't know when he became the voice of reason, but someone has to try.  
  
His angel opens Purgatory by himself because he thinks he can become God. And it's not Jimmy and Castiel anymore: It's Jimmy, Cas, and a veritable fuck-tonne of other souls, more than he could ever count. Crowley runs for the hills, which is probably the best choice, and Raphael tries to ask for mercy. Jimmy thinks that's not likely, and he's right. Cas kills Raphael and then tells Dean and Bobby that he did save them, like he said he would.  
  
Dean sort of smiles and nods but proposes that Cas put the souls back and go back to being himself. Cas says he still has to take care of the angels who sided with Raphael. Dean tells Cas that he's family, and they don't want to lose him. Jimmy  _really_  wonders what kinds of fucked-up relationships the Winchesters have with each other and their father and anyone else they've ever been related to. Castiel rebuffs Dean, but Sam sneaks up and stabs the angel. Nothing happens.  
  
Cas tells Sam the sword won't work because he's not an angel anymore. He's  _God_. This sounds astoundingly like those religious delusions Jimmy's old therapist told him about... what, five years ago now? Jimmy is surprised he even remembers that. He vaguely wonders how Dr Richards is doing. He doesn't think it makes a difference since he's never going to be able to step back into his old life. He still tries not to think of Amelia and Claire, but it's hard. He doesn't want to forget them, but he doesn't want to imagine Claire growing up without him.  
  
Jimmy shakes himself out of his thoughts because he has a more pressing need to deal with whatever Castiel has gotten them into. His angel wants to be worshipped like he's God, but not if they don't mean it. Dean says that Cas promised to fix Sam, but Cas tells him that the condition of that promise was that Dean didn't fight him again. Since Dean  _did_  go up against him, Cas doesn't have to help Sam now. He won't kill them but he also won't help them. Jimmy thinks that's entirely unfair, after everything they've been through together. Cas says he'll let Bobby and the Winchesters live as long as they don't oppose him again, and then he leaves them.  
  
Jimmy asks his angel where they're going. Cas says he has to fix some things. He takes them to heaven, kills a number of angels, and then inexplicably lectures them about needing an authority figure to follow. Jimmy is more confused than he's ever been. His angel has completely lost it. He has to figure something out before Cas does something rash. It's this whole 'God' thing. It's turning Castiel into someone that Jimmy doesn't recognise.  
  
Castiel takes them to a church where the preacher is going on about Lady Gaga and picketing weddings and funerals. He calls the preacher out, saying he doesn't care about sexual orientation but he can't stand for hypocrites—like the preacher. The preacher tries to argue, but Cas challenges him to tell the congregation what he's been doing in the bedroom before he speaks for God.  
  
The preacher, the poor bastard, asks who Cas is. Cas answers simply, "I'm God." Jimmy tells Cas that no, he isn't. One man gets up to stop him, but Cas smites that one and then the preacher. "And he who lies in my name shall choke on his own false tongue and his poisonous words shall betray him." He turns to leave, but something gives him pause. He stares at the stained—glass window until it looks like him and burns the back of the pew where his hand is resting, and then, satisfied, goes on his way.  
  
Castiel goes after anyone he thinks is not righteous, but he also does do a few good things. He finds Crowley and makes an offer. He has no plans on killing Crowley; he wants him to continue to be the King of Hell—with one catch. Cas gets to pick who goes to Hell and who doesn't. Crowley scoffs and asks if Cas is scaling Hell down. Cas acknowledges that he would have gotten rid of Hell entirely, but he needs to be able to threaten his enemies. Finally Crowley accepts since it's a better option than death.  
  
There's a welt on his hand. Jimmy notices it first. He perversely wants to wait and see how long it's going to take his angel to see it. In the end, reason wins out: Castiel may be occupying him for the rest of eternity, but it's Jimmy's own damn body, and he's not going to watch it fall apart because his angel is an idiot. So he nudges Cas, tells him to check out their hand. He wants to know why he's suddenly falling apart.  
  
The once-blind man Cas heals asks what's wrong with his face. Jimmy wonders if it's a progression of the thing with his hand. He starts to notice something else is wrong: His insides are shifting around. It feels like awkward indigestion. That wiggly feeling, that's all the souls, isn't it? There are a  _lot_  of them in here. Jimmy can't count them all.  
  
Castiel finds the Winchesters and Bobby in the home of a terrified couple. They've just bound Death. He says he didn't want to kill the boys, but he's changed his mind. Dean says that even if Cas tried, he couldn't. Death agrees, and asks if it isn't annoying. He asks Dean, "'God'?" Jimmy doesn't think that sounds good.  
  
Death raises an eyebrow at them, as if he knows Jimmy's misgivings. He tells Cas, "Your vessel's melting. You're going to explode." Cas says he's not melting and that he can repair himself. Jimmy screams at Cas that this isn't what he signed up for when he asked Cas to possess him the second time. Death says that Cas thinks he can do these things because of the souls, but that's not the real problem. The problem, it seems, is that there are things besides souls in Purgatory, and Cas ate those, too.  
  
Castiel says that isn't important: He's in control, at least for now. Dean asks what the older things are. Death explains that before people—or angels, for that matter—were invented, there were the Leviathan. They're the original beasts and, coincidentally, the reason that Purgatory happened. Death says he thought they were amusing, but they were too problematic, so they had to be sequestered.  
  
And now they're hanging out with all of the souls in Jimmy's body because Castiel is completely stupid. At least, that's what Jimmy gathers. He's still trying to process the whole bit about the Leviathan. That name sounds vaguely familiar, but he can't place exactly why. He's glad when Death calls his angel out for being a fool, though.  
  
Cas asks what makes him stupid. He asks if it's because he opened that door. He thinks he's done something good, trying to become God. Death mocks him for it. Cas asks Death what he's even supposed to be. They have a short exchange about what the horseman is destined for, and Death laughs again. He walks a short circle and says, "Really bought his own press, this one. Please, Cas. I  _know_  God, and you sir, are no God."  
  
Hilariously, Dean is the one who tells them to stop having a pissing contest. Death sighs and means to reap Cas: The Winchesters have bound him, and they have apparently asked him to reap Cas in order to stop the madness. Castiel breaks Death's binding because it serves the brothers right, and then he leaves without bothering to find out if he would still be reaped.  
  
Jimmy is inordinately impressed with Death. If there's one person he ever wants on his side, it's definitely Death.  
  
Castiel takes them to the office of some political candidate. Jimmy has no idea who she is, but Cas walks into the building and tells the man who approaches that he needs to see the senator about "abuse of power". He still thinks he's God, doesn't he? He goes on a rant of some kind about how she's doing terrible things in his name and how he's going to be better at God's job than God was. Jimmy can't help but hold out some hope that maybe Cas will do a better job than everyone's imaginary heavenly Father. If he does, it would almost make up for all of the crazy Jimmy has been trying to control.  
  
  
Jimmy wakes up in the office Cas invaded, and it is covered in blood. The wiggling feeling is getting worse. But Sam calls for him and offers help, and Cas goes to him. He needs help, and he finally admits it. They go to the workshop that Crowley and Cas had used and start getting everything ready to open Purgatory again. Castiel apologises for everything and says he would fix Sam if he could.  
  
Dean doesn't seem to be even considering it. He asks if apologising makes Cas feel better about himself. Cas says it doesn't. Jimmy tells him that's how it's supposed to be. Bobby tells Cas that it'll just be a minute. They open Purgatory again, and Cas sends the souls back. Something is still wrong, though. Jimmy can feel it, even as his angel collapses on the floor.  
  
Castiel seems shocked to be alive, and he thanks Bobby and Dean. He wants to atone for his missteps. They start to leave, but the wiggling feeling comes back. Cas pushes Dean and Bobby away and tells them to run. They don't, of course, and then Castiel is gone. Jimmy is trapped in his body with these Leviathan and suddenly, he remembers, from the Sunday school lessons he'd had as a child, why they were familiar. And goddamnit, what did Cas  _do_  to him?!  
  
  
The Leviathan throw Bobby and Dean across the room like they're nothing and leave them in the workshop. Jimmy feels like he's falling apart, like his body is aging and dying in rapid succession. He's too young for this. He isn't supposed to age or die, that's what his angel told him when he asked to be possessed again. But his angel is gone, and he must figure out what to do on his own.  
  
He hides. He doesn't know what else to do. He can't leave his body, and he doesn't like not having his angel around. He knows the Leviathan are going to kill him if he isn't careful, and he's not ready for that to happen. So he retreats to the furthest reaches of himself and hopes that somehow, this will all be set right. The Leviathan know he can't contain them all and survive; they have to find a way out. Jimmy can only anticipate that they will do so before he explodes. They find the local water supply and walk into the reservoir. Jimmy is certain that this means he's going to die.  
  
  
  
He doesn't know where he is or when it is when he wakes up. He's barely even aware of who he is, but he does have vague memories of being devoted to a wife and daughter. It takes him a moment to realise he's in a river, and he's naked. It's cold, and it doesn't get any warmer when he crawls up onto the ground. He sits under a tree while he considers his options, and while he's thinking a woman approaches him and asks if he's all right. He looks up at her and says he's not sure.  
  
She says her name is Daphne, and she takes him home. She tells him that God brought them together. He's sure she's wrong, that it isn't possible, but it wouldn't be smart to argue. He thinks he's had this argument with someone before, but he doesn't remember who or when. This woman, Daphne, she helps him find a name—Emanuel. He thinks that's an odd choice for a name, but since he already let her have that 'God' led her to him, he doesn't think he can argue this now.  
  
He has an uncanny ability to heal people. Daphne tells him that he should use this 'gift' to help those who are less fortunate. He feels like he's done some terrible things that he can't remember. The least he can do to atone is use his mysterious skill. She supports him with his healing, both financially and otherwise.  
  
They marry shortly after Daphne gets him started with his healing. He's not entirely comfortable with the idea. He doesn't remember what happened to the wife and daughter he's sure he has. No one seems to be looking for him, though: He talks his way into being able to check missing-persons files for the area, and there's no one who matches his description. He doesn't know how he manages to accomplish that, but he's not about to question it.  
  
Emanuel wakes up in the middle of the night from a dream where his name is Jimmy: He's got a guest in his head, but the only name that seems to fit is 'my angel'. That can't possibly actually be the name, so he guesses that maybe his angel is called Emmanuel. They must be close, if Jimmy calls him things like his angel. He wonders if among his past transgressions is being unfaithful to the wife he vaguely remembers loving very much.  
  
He gets a blinding headache when he tries to remember more of the dream. He shrugs it off as weird coincidence.  
  
  
Emanuel gets home just in time to see a pouty-mouthed man stab a man with a horrible face. He doesn't know either of them, but he feels strangely drawn to the one who's still alive. They go inside, and he unties the ropes binding Daphne. She tells him the man was looking for him, not her. He introduces himself to the stranger, who says his name is Dean, and thanks him for protecting Daphne.  
  
Dean says the man he killed was a demon, and that there are tonnes of them still walking the earth. Daphne tells Dean about Emanuel, and Dean says that he needs help with his brother. Emanuel agrees and goes with Dean to see what he can do. He wonders if Dean knows more about them than he's letting on.  
  
In the car, Dean asks Emanuel about himself and about Daphne. Emanuel tells him that she found him and took care of him. He tells Dean the whole story, and Dean says it must be weird to not know who he is. Emanuel shrugs it off; he doesn't think he's a bad person any more. He asks more about the brother, Sam. Dean says it's not a medical issue, which is fine; that's never been a problem for Emanuel.  
  
Dean tells him about someone who "broke" his brother's brain. Emanuel asks if this was someone who was supposed to be a friend, this man who betrayed them. Dean says it doesn't really matter because he's not here anymore. Emanuel wants to know if Dean killed the man; he has a sudden thought that that's not how it went down. Dean says no, but the man might be dead.  
  
Dean is pouring his heart out, like he's known Emanuel for years. It's confusing. Dean pulls up outside a convenience store and goes in, presumably for a snack. He tells Emanuel to sit tight while he's inside. Emanuel waits patiently while Dean takes  _forever_  to pick up snacks. He's confused when Dean returns with a woman—a demon. Dean says she's friendly. That seems odd. She says her name is Meg, and she looks Emanuel up and down like a piece of meat. He wonders if they have a history that he doesn't know about.  
  
It's an awkward ride the rest of the way to Dean's brother. Meg and Dean seem to be keeping something from Emanuel. Dean makes a crack about Meg that is apparently a joke. Somehow, the drive gets even more uncomfortable after that.  
  
  
The hospital where Sam is staying is surrounded by demons. Emanuel can see them all. He doesn't know what they should do about that, and Dean and Meg step off for an argument. He hears them and interrupts their fight. He's figured out that they all know each other, and he's sure that he can handle whatever the story is. Dean asks if he's sure, and Meg says he's an angel.  
  
Emanuel asks if she's flirting with him. He has a sensation that someone isn't happy about that; that nobody gets to call him angel if they aren't... Jimmy? But Jimmy isn't real, is he? Meg says it's a species. That makes more sense. It also explains why he can heal people, why he doesn't need to eat. He wants to know why they had to hide that from him. It doesn't sound like a bad gig. Dean assures him it's pretty terrible, though.  
  
Meg says they fought together, that they were close friends. Emanuel processes this when Dean doesn't deny it and then asks if he's this Castiel person. All Dean does is look away. Emanuel—no, Castiel, he has to be Castiel—he apologises because he doesn't remember them. He also doesn't know how to smite any of the demons that are in their way. Dean says it's like riding a bike, but Cas doesn't know how to ride a bike.  
  
He agrees to try in the end. He approaches the hospital doors, and one of the demons says he's supposed to be dead. Cas says, "So I heard," and lays his hand on the demon's forehead. As the demon falls, memories flood back. He dispatches the rest with ease. He remembers everything now. And Jimmy—Jimmy is his vessel, a smart-mouthed, vexing man, somehow still an atheist even after spending five years playing host to an angel. Where  _is_  he?  
  
He can't dwell on that for long. He has amends to make. He asks why Dean didn't say anything, and Dean says because his brother needs help, and that's more important. Cas doesn't think he should still be here. He tries to leave, but Dean follows. Dean tries to defend Cas's past actions, but Cas doesn't want to hear it. The number of deaths he's caused—both on Earth and in Heaven—and everything else. He doesn’t understand why he's back. Dean takes Jimmy's trench coat out of the car and offers it to him.  
  
Castiel finds Sam and tries to fix the wall, but it's gone. He and Dean argue about what to do when Cas gets an idea. It's not a very good one, and it's likely to cause his vessel some harm, but it's the best solution he has. Dean asks what he's doing, and Cas sits on the bed and takes Lucifer out of Sam. The brothers get to leave and continue the fight against the Leviathan, and Cas will stay in the psychiatric ward.  
  
When he's not hallucinating Lucifer, Castiel looks for Jimmy. He feels like he's missing an important piece. He knows he isn't supposed to get attached like this, but he and Jimmy have had an unusual relationship. As frustrating as Jimmy sometimes is, with his stubborn refusal to admit that God exists, he's brilliant, and curious, and witty, and maybe the most perfect person Castiel has ever known. And Castiel is bitterly sorry that his vessel is lost.  
  
Jimmy has to be somewhere. Castiel will find him. He has to.  
  
  
Castiel awakens with a jolt. He's still in the hospital, and Meg is sitting watch over him. She leaves him to go make a call. He gets up, puts his coat on, and goes to stand at the window. Dean and Sam come back to see him. They seem shocked to see him awake, much less out of bed. Cas answers their questions as much as he can.  
  
He tells the brothers about how he's seen the plan for the world, and how it is perfect. Meg rolls her eyes and tells them that Cas has been extra—crazy since he woke up. He looks over at her and says that all her pain is beautiful, and he feels a prickling resentment somewhere in the back of his mind. She tells him to shut up. Dean or Sam pulls him back on track with a reminder of what they were talking about when he woke up. He tells them that there was a piercing noise, but no one who isn't an angel would have heard it.  
  
Sam hands an open bag to him and says that they opened it last night. Suddenly it makes so much more sense. It's a stone, etched with ancient symbols. Cas can't read them, but he recognises them. He laughs and tells the brothers, "If someone was going to free the word from the vault of the earth, it would end up being you two." He hugs them and says he loves them, and it makes an awkward moment.  
  
He takes the tablet and looks at it. Dean tries to appeal to him and ask for his help again. Cas tells them that the writing on the tablet is from Metatron. Sam asks something about a 'transformer', and Dean tells him that the transformer is  _Megatron_ , not Metatron. Castiel doesn't know who Megatron is, but he does know Megatron, so he tells the brothers about the highest of the angels.  
  
Sam wants to know what this word of God says. Cas tells them that he can't read it; it wasn't made for angels to read. Dean and Meg argue over whether or not Meg gets to see the tablet. Cas warns them that he doesn't like conflict and then transports himself to the day room, leaving the tablet to fall in his wake.  
  
Dean finds Castiel in the day room and asks if he knows he broke the tablet. He looks unhappy, but when Cas doesn't answer, Dean takes a seat across from him. He asks if it's because Cas took Lucifer out of Sam. Cas sighs and tells Dean that he knows he wants different answers. Dean says that he just wants the angel to help them defeat the Leviathan.  
  
Castiel sets up the board for the game  _Sorry!_  in the blink of an eye. He asks Dean if he wants to go first, and he talks as they play. Dean asks Cas if Metatron is still alive and if they can find him, and Cas 'accidentally' has to go back to start. He doesn't answer any of Dean's questions, instead telling him that the rules prevent him from profiting from someone else's despair. Dean tells him that when he tried to become God, he rewrote the rules.  
  
Dean gets angry with Castiel's answer-avoidance tactics and shoves the entire game off the table. Cas apologises, but Dean rebuffs him and says that he's only playing the damn game. Cas is in the middle of picking up the pieces when he hears angels. He goes back to his room, and Hester and Inias stare at him, shocked. He smiles and greets them, but Hester is awfully angry about it. They talk—well, Cas talks mostly, but he doesn't get very far before Dean banishes them all.  
  
  
Castiel finds Jimmy when he wakes back up. He's not sure where he is, but his vessel is in all the right places, and he's never felt more like he's home. Jimmy tells him that he never left—he can't leave his own body, he's just a human. He says that he had to hide from the Leviathan, so he pretended to not exist anymore.  
  
Jimmy tells his angel off for a good fifteen minutes, but Cas would listen to him shout for all of time, if he could. He knows he's too attached to his vessel, but he doesn't care. If he has gained any favour with God, he knows the one thing he wants to ask. After Jimmy finishes shouting, he tells Cas that he's glad he's home.  
  
He admits to Castiel that he thinks he might love him. He's still not sure it isn't some Stockholm syndrome thing, but he didn't like it when Cas was gone either time it happened. And he  _did_  ask to be a vessel, so he can't exactly say he was hijacked. Jimmy is sure this means he's insane.  
  
Then Cas discloses that he's been experiencing the same sort of companionable feeling. Jimmy wonders if that means he has the... whatever the reverse version of Stockholm syndrome is. He's not a psychiatrist; he doesn't know if such a thing even exists. But if it does, it explains a lot.  
  
  
Castiel tells Jimmy that they have to call the Winchesters. He calls Meg, and she tells him where they are. He finds them and meets Kevin, the prophet. Cas 'boops' Kevin's nose and asks Meg if she's hurt. It seems that while Castiel has been missing, Hester has taken charge. Cas tries to explain that he was the captain of all the angels who were supposed to look after the Earth but gets distracted by all kinds of random, useless facts.  
  
Dean asks Cas to get to the point, and Cas asks if he's angry. Dean says he's not, and so the angel continues on with his explanation. Jimmy is going to have to remind him about their personal space conversation— _again_. He's lost track of how many times he's had to do this. Kevin says he's trying to go to Princeton, so he can't go to the desert. Cas tells Dean and Sam that he stopped fighting. He watches bees instead.  
  
After they arrive at the cabin where they'll be staying, Sam and Cas paint sigils on the windows and doors to hide their presence from other angels. Cas mentions to Sam that he seems distracted, but that it's a fairly common thing so he usually doesn't mention it. Sam is concerned; he asks if Cas sees Lucifer. Cas tells him that he did, but he doesn't now. He says that picking up all of that pain from Sam turned out to be really good for him.  
  
Sam says that they're all thankful, but then he mentions helping Cas "get better". Cas asks what that's supposed to mean. Jimmy tells his angel that it's okay; they're only trying to be supportive.  
  
  
Jimmy wonders if Castiel still has a thing for Meg. He keeps trying to look out for her, and he keeps trying to slyly look at her when he thinks nobody else will notice. They let Meg out of the devil's trap, and Cas tells them all that Hester is going to be a problem. The words aren't far out of his mouth when Hester and Inias show up again. They want the prophet.  
  
Hester tells Dean off for asking her to give them a break. She starts towards him, but Cas intervenes. Jimmy watches as his angel tries to reason with Hester and instead gets his face punched in. Meg kills her just before she stabs Cas.  
  
Inias—well, he's much more reasonable. He wants Castiel to come back with him and rejoin the garrison, but he understands if Cas won't. After the angels take Kevin home to watch over him, Sam reads from the translation that they need the blood of a fallen angel. Castiel gives them a vial of his own before they can even ask for it. Dean accepts it and asks what Cas is going to do now. Castiel smiles and tells them, "I don't know. Isn't that amazing?"  
  
  
Jimmy and Castiel just wander, for a while. Jimmy finally confronts Cas about Meg and finds out from his angel that it's actually nothing. They have a couple of run-ins with Dean that start off incredibly awkwardly and end with sex in the back of the Impala. Jimmy has decided since the first time that he's all right with his angel and the older Winchester.  
  
  
He overhears Meg and Dean arguing. She says she doesn't want to deal with Castiel, and when Dean asks why, she says, "Go ask  _him_. He was  _your_  boyfriend first." Cas asks Jimmy if that's true, and Jimmy tells him that if his angel is  _anyone's_  boyfriend, he's Jimmy's. Sure, Cas may have kissed Meg and slept with Dean, but those things don't make relationships.  
  
Dean comes outside and asks what's up. Cas starts talking about monkeys and lipstick, and Jimmy asks him to please shut up because he's heard this speech three times now. Dean invites him inside, and Cas reminds them all again that he doesn't fight. He compliments their choice of righteous bone to choose and says that he hasn't heard anything from the garrison.  
  
Sam asks what happened, and Cas says that when he went to check on Kevin, he found the angels, dead. He tells them that Leviathan can kill angels; that's part of why they were put in Purgatory. Dean asks what happened to Kevin. Cas starts getting distracted, and Dean sharply pulls him back into focus. Cas again says he's not going to fight.  
  
Crowley shows up again, finally. He asks Castiel why he isn't dead. Jimmy wants to step out and put the King of Hell in his place. Nobody gets to be condescending to his angel. Even Crowley thinks Cas is insane. Jimmy thinks that it's kind of fitting, his angel being the crazy one now, after Jimmy spent so much time in therapy because there was an  _actual angel_  talking to him.  
  
  
Castiel brings the Winchesters sandwiches just after they prepare the holy bone. He's gotten a bit handsy with Dean. Jimmy thinks that this change is funny now that he doesn't want to murder Dean for touching his angel. The timing is especially good since they've been fighting. The brothers ask if he can't come with, and he refuses but asks Sam to accept the sandwich as a "gesture of solidarity". Sam gives him a funny look but takes the sandwich.  
  
The Winchesters fail to take out Dick Roman—and Jimmy thinks the top Leviathan should have thought about all of the jokes you could make before he chose that guy. They're back at their safe-house talking about it, and Dean calls Cas out for acting awkwardly. Castiel says he thinks they should get a cat. Dean asks if he has anything to say about Dicks. Jimmy has to use every ounce of self-control he has to not die laughing.  
  
Castiel refuses to answer any questions, insisting that he can't help them. He says he's wrecked everything and he'll only do it again. Dean tells Cas that he needs to clean up his mess. Instead of giving him an answer, Cas just leaves. He goes across the room and starts playing Twister by himself. Jimmy tells his angel that he should probably stop being so obstinate; he kind of  _does_  owe it to the world to set things right.  
  
Sam and Dean burn Bobby's flask. Jimmy tries to not pay attention because he doesn't want to deal with Bobby's death. He'll think about it later, after he's done dealing with giving up his family. Dean finds him after they're done and asks for his help. He says it's fine if Cas doesn't want to get into the action; he just needs to take care of something. Cas takes them to the place where they hid the Impala, and he suddenly has a change of heart.  
  
Castiel tells Dean that if they don't manage to destroy the Leviathan, then they will die as heroes. But Cas, he'll either die fixing the mistake he made, or he'll be brought back: It's his punishment. He's going to continue to be brought back, and it's going to be worse each time, and he's bad luck to the Winchesters. That's why he can't help them.  
  
Dean tells Castiel that he'd rather have him there than not, even if the angel  _is_  bad luck. He reasons that neither he nor Sam is good luck. Castiel just looks at him, and his expression must change because Dean gets confused and asks what's going on. Cas suggests that Dean is possibly forgiving him, and Dean laughs and tells him that he's looking at imminent death. Cas finally says he'll go with them and asks for the plan.  
  
Dean takes a hesitant step forward. Jimmy nudges his angel;  _you know the best part of fighting, right?_  Castiel seems confused, and Jimmy clarifies:  _Make-up sex, haven't you learned_  anything  _from me?_  Cas moves into action with a start, pulling Dean in by the jacket and kissing him. Dean doesn't move for a moment, but then it's on.  
  
They don't actually make it into the Impala until they're sated and sore. On the drive back to the safe house, Dean keeps glancing over at Castiel as if the angel is going to disappear. Cas reaches over and lays a hand on Dean's shoulder to reassure him.  
  
  
Jimmy is shocked that Dean let anybody drive his car, much less Meg, but someone's got to do the distracting. Castiel sneaks in with the Winchesters while she covers the front, and he identifies which of the fake Dick Romans is the real fake one. When they finally do find him, he's in the lab with a scientist. Jimmy still can't consider this guy without wanting to break into a fit of giggles.  
  
Dick Roman taunts Dean and throws Castiel across the room. Dean stabs him with the dummy bone, and Dick breaks it apart. Cas gets up and sneaks back across just in time to hold Dick back so Dean can stab him with the real one. There's a huge explosion, and Castiel wakes up with Dean in Purgatory.  
  
  
  
  
  
Jimmy wakes up, and he's staring up at himself. He's bewildered for a moment; it's like looking into a mirror, but the face staring back at him doesn't look confused and desperately needs a shave. Then he hears Castiel's voice, coming out of his reflection. "Jimmy?" His doppelganger reaches out and touches his face, his expression uncertain.  
  
Jimmy sits up, his nose crashing into Cas's chin. "Oh, God, Cas? Is this real? How are you—am I still your vessel?" He doesn't wait for an answer. Instead, he turns his head slightly and kisses Cas. He doesn't care that for all anyone can tell, he's kissing his twin. Castiel is here, and he's real, and he's apparently learned a lot while Jimmy wasn't looking because the thing he's doing with his tongue is  _delicious_.  
  
Castiel leans back, his eyes wide. "I found God," he says simply.  
  
Jimmy eyes him suspiciously. "You found... God," he echoes. "And now you're me, but not me. That seems unlikely." He's wary of this claim of God, especially after all of the calamity that has followed any other time God has been brought up.  
  
Castiel shakes his head and leans forward again, kissing a line down Jimmy's neck. "I petitioned him to reward you for your service. He relented, so I asked for this on your behalf." His teeth scrape against Jimmy's skin as he speaks. Jimmy shivers and pushes as his angel's shirt. Cas turns his head to look up at Jimmy. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Jesus Christ, yes, can we go somewhere a little more... indoors?" Jimmy gasps. "There's a rock in my back."  
  
They find a room and stumble inside, tearing at each other's clothes. Jimmy pushes Cas back on the bed, pulling at his tie and wedging his knee between Castiel's legs. Castiel makes a soft noise and grabs alternately at Jimmy's shirt and the sheets. Jimmy smiles and kisses down Castiel's neck. Cas moves to sit up, and Jimmy bites at his neck. He's not sure if Cas is going to like that or not; it's different to consider these things, since they're not in the same body any more.  
  
Given the way Castiel groans and rolls up against him, Jimmy guesses that he likes it. He takes his time with his angel, as much as he can stand. He's not very patient now; he's been waiting over five years for this. After a stern warning to his angel to not vanish anything off somewhere, Jimmy divests them of their clothes. Everything is so familiar but so different all at once.  
  
Jimmy tries to remember what Dean did during sex that Castiel had liked the best, but whatever those things were, they're not coming to mind. So he settles for searching all over again, soft touches of fingers and lips turning sharper when they find sensitive skin. Jimmy likes hearing his name bubble up on Castiel's lips, his angel's voice breathless and rough. He feels a pang of guilt over Amelia: he has a feeling that Cas's responses might be coloured by Jimmy's memories of his wife.  
  
Cas seems to notice without any cues: He pats Jimmy's face and makes soothing sounds, kisses his forehead and lips. The pain subsides, and Jimmy becomes aware of Cas doing some  _very_  interesting things. His angel has to have been watching porn when Jimmy wasn't paying attention because he's pretty sure neither he nor Dean has ever...  
  
That thought, along with most of the rest of them, goes as soon as Castiel's mouth is on Jimmy's dick. It's an embarrassingly short time before Jimmy is panting and trying to warn Cas before he comes, but Cas either doesn't notice or doesn't care. He pulls off and kisses around Jimmy's now-over-sensitive skin, teasing with his fingertips and tongue and teeth.  
  
Jimmy tries to bite back an embarrassingly high-pitched noise as his angel turns him over and nips at his thigh. He's sure he's going to have bruises he'll feel for days. Cas changes tactics, and everything turns into gentler touches until Jimmy feels something soft and wet circle his hole, and fire races through his body. It hits him that this is about to go much further than he's ever been with anyone, and he vaguely thinks that the realisation should maybe bother him, but it doesn't.  
  
Castiel fucks Jimmy with his tongue and stretches him out, fingers teasing his prostate experimentally. Jimmy's cock twitches in response, and he mutters, "Fuck, Castiel... !" Cas laughs, and Jimmy feels it to his core.  
  
What astounds Jimmy more than anything else is that Castiel seems to be genuinely enjoying himself. All of the attention lovingly poured into this one act, and Cas hasn't even touched himself. Jimmy opens his mouth to say something, but Castiel pulls away, plants a soft kiss on his back. Jimmy feels open and empty and whines his displeasure.  
  
Castiel turns Jimmy onto his back again and presses a finger to his lips, using his other hand to slick himself up. He holds onto Jimmy's hips, lines himself up, and pushes in. Jimmy bites his lip to hold back the litany of curses that threatens to spill forth, and focuses on his angel so he'll never forget this moment. Castiel, with his messy hair and blown pupils, the flush rising up his body, is so perfect, so beautiful, it makes Jimmy's heart soar.  
  
Castiel fills him up, the head of his cock brushing Jimmy's prostate, and Jimmy marvels at how  _right_  this is, feeling like he's going to burst at the seams. He lifts his hips to meet Cas's thrusts, cries out as his angel's fingers make bruises.  
  
He's hard again, every motion building up pressure until he feels like he's going to explode. Castiel hits his prostate again, and the sensation of it all is overwhelming. Jimmy comes again, clenching around his angel, his semen splattering their bellies. Cas rides Jimmy's orgasm out and then empties himself into his once-vessel, murmuring in Enochian.  
  
Castiel neatly collapses onto Jimmy, and Jimmy's arms immediately encircle his angel, pulling him closer. Jimmy kisses Cas's hair and his temple, and briefly sucks on his bottom lip, now swollen and bright red from being bitten.  
  
They lie together for a few minutes, and then Castiel moves, trails kisses down Jimmy's side. He spreads Jimmy open again, licking himself out of his vessel like he's never wanted to do anything more in his life.  
  
Jimmy is acutely aware of each stroke of his angel's tongue, his nerve endings still over-sensitised. He moans softly when Cas moves on, pressing gentle kisses into the nearly-black marks on his hips.  
  
Jimmy doesn't know what he's done to deserve a lover so attentive, but he isn't going to question his luck.  
  
He idly suggests they shower, and washes his angel head to toe in the warm water. He stays on his knees to tease Castiel hard again and takes him in as much as he can, tilting his head as Cas's hips stutter forward. It's been a long time since he's done this, and half-drunk fraternity brothers are nothing to his angel, but he still remembers his best tricks. He changes his angle until he can take Castiel's dick in its entirety, swallowing around it and looking up at his angel through his eyelashes.  
  
Castiel's fingers tangle in Jimmy's hair, and he fucks his vessel's face with abandon. Jimmy holds onto Cas's legs, teases his angel with his tongue and teeth. With little warning, Castiel thrusts deep into Jimmy's throat and comes, holding tightly onto his vessel to stay standing.  
  
Jimmy swallows through Cas's aftershocks and eases his angel down to his knees. They stay there for a few more minutes and finish cleaning up. Jimmy licks his way into Castiel's mouth and pulls him back to the bedroom. They fall into the sheets in a tangle of limbs.

  
  
Jimmy has never been one much for snuggling, but here he is, attached to his angel's side. They idly watch whatever late-night shows are on the television, and he asks Castiel what happened more specifically.  
  
Castiel explains that he and Dean were in Purgatory, but they had to split up. He says Dean escaped, but he won't say how. He doesn't know where Dean is, either, but he can't search forever. He's mostly human now; it's completely impractical to try. Cas isn't even sure how  _he_  got out, but he doesn't want to question it. He's been in trouble enough times for questioning authority, and he'd like to avoid any further punishment.  
  
Jimmy tells his angel to be quiet and just enjoy the moment. He's sure they'll find the Winchesters one day, and the shenanigans will pick up practically where they left off. But until then, he's going to hold on to everything they get.


End file.
